Written Answers - Euro Changeover.
John Perry
Question:
55
Mr. Perry
asked the
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment
if her attention has been drawn to the potential for fraud when retailers will no longer be able to accept Irish currency cheques after 31 December 2001; if her attention has further been drawn to the fact that euro denominated cheques drawn on non-resident banks, such as French banks, will not be guaranteed by a bank card and will bear the normal higher bank charges associated with foreign cheques and the associated delays with those cheques being credited to an account; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the majority of people affected by this changeover are totally unaware of the major task that lies ahead; if she will ensure an acceleration of the euro changeover campaign; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[12161/01]
For the most part the issues raised in this question are related to banking regulations and procedures, and as such are primarily the responsibility of the Minister for Finance. In so far as the question relates to Irish business operations, I propose to answer the question in that context as our Department has responsibility for informing business of the requirements necessary for a smooth changeover to euro notes and coins on 1 January 2002.
To take the first of the issues raised in relation to Irish pound cheques, this appears to refer to the procedural arrangements that will be put in place by the Irish banking system to facilitate the changeover to the euro. The specific arrangements by financial institutions to phase out the use of Irish pound cheques and commence business with euro denominated cheques have already been agreed at industry level through the Irish Bankers Federation and will undoubtedly be the subject of a major information campaign that will be undertaken by the financial institutions to communicate directly with their customers.
Irish pound denominated cheques must not be written after 31 December next and all cheques written after 31 December 2001 must be written in euro. In the interest of facilitating the early changeover to euro customers are strongly encouraged to lodge Irish pound denominated cheques with their financial institutions before 9 February 2002, that is before the end of the national dual circulation period. Euro denominated chequebooks will be available from financial institutions in advance of 1 January next and arrangements will be in place for refunding stamp duty on unused Irish pound cheques.
It is difficult to see how these procedural arrangements, which have already been communicated to retailers in the guidelines produced and disseminated in significant quantities by the Forfás EMU business awareness campaign could be used or acted upon in a fraudulent manner.
In relation to euro denominated cheques drawn on bank and building society branches, such cheques should only be used in the Republic of Ireland according to the Irish Bankers Federation. Used elsewhere they will take longer to clear and may attract significantly higher clearing charges at the beneficiary's end. This is because there is no Europe wide system for clearing cheques. Euro denominated cheques that are drawn on institutions from other participating countries will be handled in the same way as foreign currency cheques are today. Therefore, when it comes to paying foreign based suppliers or receiving payments from foreign based customers, businesses are being advised to opt for means of payment other than cheques. This message has already been communicated to retailers via the Forfás retail guidelines and will also be communicated by the banks directly to their business customers.
A survey conducted by the ESRI in December last, on behalf of the EMU business awareness campaign, shows that at that stage 53% of retail businesses had prepared or were preparing a plan to manage the changeover in their business. The initial figures from the campaign's latest survey, for which the fieldwork has been completed and results are currently being tabulated, indicate that this figure has risen considerably with approximately 66% of retail firms indicating they have prepared, or are in the process of preparing, a euro changeover plan.
With regard to the acceleration of the euro changeover campaign from a business perspective, the Forfás EMU business awareness campaign has significantly increased its activities since the start of this year. Specific activities have included: A major advertising campaign using television, radio, press and trade publications with Internet advertising to follow shortly; new guidelines to assist retailers in planning for the changeover, of which 178,000 copies have been distributed through a wide variety of channels including direct distribution by post to 40,000 retailers; presentations on the relevant EMU planning issues for business at meetings, conferences and-or seminars of professional, trade and business organisations, particularly those that represent companies in the SME sector; exhibition stands at appropriate conferences, trade and business exhibitions that facilitate dissemination of campaign messages, particularly to companies in the SME sector; articles-features in relevant publications, newsletters and journals of trade, business and professional organisations particularly those focused on companies in the SME sector; in addition, the campaign will continue with its joint information initiative with Running Your Business, the magazine of the Small Firms Association which is circulated to a dedicated list of 30,000 small firms; a LoCall helpline to assist business with their queries regarding changeover issues; and a national conference on the euro, which was held in Loughrea, County Galway, that highlighted the changeover experiences of the SME firms involved in the Loughrea euro town project as they switched to euro based trading. The Loughrea project, which has been run under the auspices of the Forfás EMU business awareness campaign, has identified many practical issues for SMEs in preparing for the euro.
In addition to the campaign's ongoing tasks, other specific activities planned by the campaign for the remainder of the changeover period will include: A comprehensive new guide will be published shortly covering key areas of preparation including accounting, software, payroll, revenue and other issues and will be distributed to SMEs and the production of a training pack for retailers for the purpose of staff training. The latter will be distributed to every retailer here during the summer.
A survey conducted by the ESRI in December, on behalf of the EMU business awareness campaign, shows that 72% of all Irish firms have received information on the changeover and have expressed high levels of satisfaction with the information received.
Ultimately it is the responsibility of each firm to ensure that they are able to conduct their business in euro from 1 January next. The EMU business awareness campaign can only assist in providing the necessary information that will assist them to do this. We are satisfied that the necessary information has been, and continues to be, provided to Irish businesses to facilitate them with this task.
Question No. 56 answered with Question No. 29.
