asked the Minister for Finance if under the EMS arrangement Ireland will not be required to intervene if the púnt goes outside the 2¼ per cent band.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Value of Irish £.
18.
As has already been made clear, Ireland will be required, within the EMS, to keep the exchange rate for the Irish pound within the standard margin of fluctuation of ± 2¼ per cent against each of the other participaing currencies, except in the case of the Italian lira for which a temporary margin of ± 6 per cent has been agreed. Should the Irish pound reach its bilateral limit against any of the other participating currencies, our Central Bank and the central bank of the other country concerned would both have to intervene to ensure observance of the limit.
Will the Minister comment on the statement that appeared in a magazine last week or the week before to the effect that the governors of the Central Bank had agreed among themselves that because of the light weighting of the Irish púnt in the basket comprising the ECU's that it would not be necessary to intervene if the Irish púnt deviated outside the 2¼ per cent?
I did not see the article to which the Deputy refers and therefore I am in some difficulty in replying to his question. The position is as I have indicated in my reply. I do not wish to speculate in regard to an article which I have not seen.
I am not asking the Minister to speculate, but presumably if the governors of the Central Bank had come to this agreement the Minister would have been told. Has the Minister been told?
I have not been told of any such thing.