Jim O'Keeffe
Ceist:7 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance when euro notes and coins will be available for distribution to the public. [14183/01]
Other Questions. - Euro Changeover.
Ivor Callely
Ceist:19 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Finance if he has satisfied himself with the preparations for the introduction of the euro; the timescale for measures to be introduced; the measures aimed at creating a climate of confidence and making the euro experience a positive one; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14177/01]
Liz McManus
Ceist:30 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Finance if he has plans for the earlier introduction of euro bank notes as suggested by the Belgian Finance Minister; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14232/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 19 and 30 together.
Euro notes and coins will be introduced into circulation on 1 January 2002. The European Central Bank, which has the exclusive right to authorise the issue of bank notes, has ruled out the making available of euro notes to the public in advance of 1 January.
As regards coins, ECOFIN has agreed that euro coins can be made available to the public in the second half of December. I announced last month that starter packs of euro coins will go on sale to the public from Monday, 17 December 2001. The packs will be sold at face value, £5 – 6.35 – and will contain at least one of each of the eight euro coin denominations. The balance will be made up mainly with the larger-value coins. The packs will be on sale mainly through post offices. Limited supplies will be available at individual banks and building societies and, where feasible, at credit unions for members. The coins will not be legal tender until 1 January 2002 and should not be used before that date.
As regards preparations for the changeover, these essentially involve six elements, legislation, the production of euro cash, preparations by the public sector, preparations by the private sector, consumer matters and the provision of public information. Substantial progress has been made to date under each of these headings. As regards legislation, the House will be aware that this year's Finance Act and Social Welfare Act provided for the replacement of Irish pound amounts in the tax and social welfare codes with convenient amounts in euro from 1 January 2002. The Euro Changeover (Amounts) Bill currently before the House is aimed, essentially, at dealing with places elsewhere in law where convenient amounts are necessary.
I am assured by the Central Bank that cash production is on target. It will involve 250 million euro notes and over one billion euro coins. Departments continue to confirm that progress on implementation of their changeover plans is on target.
As regards business preparations, the Forfás EMU business awareness campaign has, since its establishment in 1996, distributed very large quantities of information to Irish businesses to help them prepare for the changeover. The Forfás Loughrea euro town project, under the aegis of the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, provided excellent case studies of the practical experience of businesses making changeover preparations. Notwithstanding the extensive work done by the Forfás campaign, however, it is clear that many businesses have yet to engage seriously with their changeover preparations. The message for these businesses is clear – prepare now.
The consumer aspects of the changeover are being addressed by the Minister with responsibility for consumer affairs, Deputy Tom Kitt, and by the Director of Consumer Affairs. They relaunched the national code of practice on the euro changeover last December, with an action plan for consumer protection during the changeover. A key aspect of the code is that subscribers to it, and to any sectoral code approved under it, commit themselves to carry out the changeover fairly and to seek no advantage from the conversion. The Euro Changeover Board of Ireland has been carrying out very extensive public information activities since its establishment. Among many other items, the board has sent a leaflet about the euro to every household every year since 1998 and is doing so again this year; has organised widespread circulation of posters, booklets and other information materials, including educational material for schools and materials for every teacher; has run several advertising campaigns on television and radio and in the press; has set up a lo-call helpline and a website, the latter with a special section for schools; has made a train-the-trainers pack widely available for general use; has run a programme of part-funding for non-governmental organisations carrying out euro information activities since 1998; and has catered for low-awareness and special needs groups through its consultative panel.
Public information activities will, of course, intensify greatly in the autumn. The European Central Bank will be unveiling the security features of the euro notes at the end of August, and they and the appearance of the notes will be widely advertised from then on. The Euro Changeover Board will be increasing its advertising campaign substantially from September onwards and will also be distributing a booklet on the changeover to every household. Extensive dual display of prices will begin from 1 October, the latest date for its introduction under the national and approved sectoral codes. As I have said, starter packs of euro coins will be put on sale from 17 December. There will be a great deal of activity aimed at making sure that the public is ready for the changeover when it begins on 1 January 2002.
Will the Minister agree that, despite the efforts of the changeover board, there is a considerable danger of confusion at the end of the year and the early part of next year? Will he agree that, arising from the confusion, there is a danger of profiteering by unscrupulous people taking advantage of this? Will he accept there is at least a case for making available euro bank notes, perhaps on an optional basis, for Christmas shopping so that people can get used to the notes without having to use them and that that trial period might be helpful from the point of view of trying to get over the confusion? I note that some of his European colleagues have made suggestions to that effect. What steps, if any, have been taken to try to ensure there will not be profiteering as a consequence of confusion following the changeover?
Undoubtedly there will be a certain level of confusion from 1 January. The whole focus of the Euro Changeover Board of Ireland's awareness campaign and so on is to lesson whatever confusion might occur. The same will happen in other countries.
On profiteering, this is a matter primarily for the Director of Consumer Affairs. I am sure the Deputy is referring to what is believed to have happened following the changeover to decimalisation. There will be scope on this occasion for people to take advantage of the changeover, given that rounding up and so on will have to take place. That will be a matter for the Director of Consumer Affairs and I hope people will be wide awake and not get caught out. As I pointed out in my reply, sectoral codes of conduct have been signed up to by various groups and the Euro Changeover Bill bases all changes on the principle of favouring the citizen.
The Deputy's last question, which is interesting, has come up at the ECOFIN Council meeting. We made a decision that euro coins can be made available from late December. I recently announced that as and from 17 December £5 starter packs will be made available. Originally the ECOFIN Council and the Governor of the Central Bank said that this should not be the case, that 1 January should be the date used. The European Central Bank held out firmly against having notes in circulation before 1 January. The legal position is that notes and coins will not be legal tender until 1 January. My view is that we should stick rigidly to 1 January in relation to notes. One of my colleagues in the ECOFIN Council has been advocating a change of view on it and will probably continue to push the issue.
Could the Minister tell us at what point will the Central Bank make euro notes and coins available to the commercial banks, and when will they be made available to retailers and the business sector?
The Central Bank is already involved in negotiations in that regard. Retailers and banks obviously have a key role in the changeover process, during which people will hand in their Irish pounds and get their change in euros. This will take place during the six week period from 1 January to 9 February 2002. The banks will supply coins and notes to their customers and the details of those arrangements are as I described in my speech last week on the Second Stage of the Euro Changeover (Amounts) Bill.
When does the Minister expect that to happen?
This is a major logistical exercise. There will be a period of intensive activity in the last two weeks of December. In an Irish context, 1 January is probably the least suitable date, having regard to our customary extended Christmas holiday period, somewhat unlike other European countries, and the enormous circulation of cash which is generated by the January sales in the shops. However, the EU concensus was for 1 January 2002. As well as other considerations, the operation will involve major security headaches, both in relation to distribution of the new currency and getting the old notes and coins back to the Central Bank.
Is it the intention of the Euro Changeover Board to provide any assistance to retailers? Is there a software package which facilitates the conversion process at tills, cash points and computers during a transition period of two or three months ?
The process of changing software, cash registers or whatever and ensuring that they are euro-compliant, is something which retailers should have been addressing in recent years.
Perhaps the euro changeover should coincide with a Government changeover.
I have no desire for the situation envisaged by Deputy Mitchell's question.