Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 September 2014
210. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if Ireland will continue to be a full voting member of the ECB governing council when Lithuania joins the currency area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33308/14]
View answerLithuania will join the euro in January 2015. They will become the nineteenth member of the euro area and this will trigger a change in the voting rights as envisaged by the Governing Council in December 2002.
Currently, the ECB's Governing Council consists of the six members of the Executive Board, plus the governors of the national central banks of the 18 euro area countries. However, once the euro area reaches 19 members, a rotation principle will apply for all national central bank governors. Governors will be allocated to groups based on the size of their economy and financial sector.
The first group will comprise of the 5 largest countries which are Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands and they will share four votes. The remaining 14 central bank governors, which includes Ireland, will be grouped together and they will share 11 votes.
The Governors take turns using the rights on a monthly rotation. However, all members of the Governing Council will attend the meetings and have the right to speak. In addition, most decisions of the Governing Council are made on a consensual basis and in a spirit of cooperation.
