Written Answers - Euro Changeover.
Bernard J. Durkan
Question:
71
Mr. Durkan
asked the
Minister for Finance
if his attention has been drawn to a recently expressed opinion that Ireland has not properly prepared for the transition to the euro; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[23726/98]
I take it the Deputy is referring to the European Commission's Eurobarometer results, which were summarised some weeks ago in an article in the Economist. Eurobarometer is an EU-wide survey and the fieldwork for that survey was carried out in April-May 1998.
Since then, the Euro Changeover Board of Ireland (ECBI), which I set up in May and which is chaired by a senior official in my Department, has carried out its own nationally-representative survey about awareness of the euro among the public here. The survey was conducted by Lansdowne Market Research in July 1998, at the end of the first phase of the ECBI's extensive public information campaign in June and July.
In the first phase, an information leaflet was sent to every home in the country, over 1.3 million leaflets in all, over 80,000 posters were issued to schools, libraries and public offices and a major advertising campaign was run involving TV, radio — national and local — and press, national and local. I should also point to the Forfás Business Awareness Campaign, which has been running for nearly two years now and has produced,inter alia, a very extensive information pack along with a guide for SME's, a guide for the retail sector, a guide for trade unions, an information technology guide and a set of possible actions for companies in relation to sterling. The Forfás documents have been widely distributed.
In September, I launched the results of the ECBI survey and a copy of a press release, which summarised the key points, was distributed to every Member of the Oireachtas and to Ireland's members of the European Parliament. Briefly, the survey results indicated that: 94 per cent of people were aware of the single currency, 85 per cent knew Ireland will participate from the beginning, 59 per cent knew the name of the currency, 59 per cent knew that the euro can be used for non-cash transactions from 1 January 1999.
On the foot ot the results of the ECBI survey, the board's main focus for the second phase of its communications campaign, which began in September, is to increase awareness of the name of the new currency — the euro — and of the 1 January 1999 start date.
The second phase of the public information campaign now under way includes the ECBI web site (www. irlgov. ie/ecbi-euro), a teletext page (RTE 1, Aertel, page 678), and the TV series Living with the euro, currently running on RTE 1 on Sunday nights at 11.00 p.m., which is co-sponsored by the ECBI. Also, the ECBI has conducted training programmes on the euro for the civil and public sector and has, in conjunction with the Department of Education and Science, produced an information leaflet which is being circulated to all schools. The ECBI has also run briefings for nationally-representative groups which, it is hoped, will in turn use their networks to further disseminate information on the euro. Contacts with TV and radio programmers are also in train to promote the inclusion of topics on the euro in programming.
A national press advertising campaign on the euro is being run from 16 November to 29 November 1998. This will include all national daily and Sunday papers, provincial press and a number of weekly publications.
Tomorrow, 18 November, I will launch the third edition of the National Changeover Plan. Briefly, the plan sets out the arrangements that will be made by the public sector, the banks and building societies and others to facilitate the changeover to the euro. Two editions of the plan have already been published. I will also be launching a public information video on the euro which will be made widely available. The video will also be available in a signed version, with subtitles, in order to be accessible to deaf people. Plans are also under way for further large-scale distribution of the information leaflet issued in June-July.
The board has also set up a consultative panel to advise on the information requirements of people with special needs, such as elderly people and people with a disability, and to help the board distribute information to them. The ECBI has already produced 250 audio tapes for blind people in conjunction with the National Council for the Blind (NCBI) and further such initiatives are under way with the NCBI.
The ECBI Secretariat administers, on behalf of the European Commission, an EU-funded Programme for information activities about the euro being carried out by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Under this programme, a total of 26 NGO bodies have been approved for EU funding amounting to a total of £200,000 in respect of information activities on the euro in 1998. These bodies include organisations representing consumers, community, elderly people and women's groups, trade unions and trade and professional associations.
The ECBI will be undertaking further public information initiatives in the run-up to the introduction of the euro on 1 January 1999 and beyond.
In the light of the above, it is clear that preparations in this country for the changeover to the euro are at an advanced stage and that a great deal of work has been and is being done to prepare the public for the changeover to the euro. The changeover will of course not be complete until after the introduction of euro notes and coins in January 2002.
