In addition to its mainstream activities, the Board has engaged in a wide range of other initiatives designed to further its objectives.

34. People with Special Needs

Clearly there are people for whom the changeover from Irish pounds to euro will present a particular challenge. The Board is anxious that appropriate measures should be put in place to assist them, and as already stated has established a Consultative Panel to help identify their needs, advise how these needs should be met and help in meeting them.

In addition, the Board has already undertaken a number of initiatives aimed at assisting people with special needs:

• The Board helped the National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) to prepare and distribute audio tape versions of the Board's 1998 and 1999 public information videos, its 1998 public information leaflet and each of the six television programmes, co-sponsored by the Board, in the 'Living with the euro' series shown on RTE television in late 1998; and also with Braille versions of the 1999 household information leaflet and of the third edition of the National Changeover Plan.
• The Board assisted with a study, carried out on behalf of the NCBI, on the accessibility of the Board's website to visually-impaired people. While finding that the website was quite accessible for visually impaired people, the study went on to make some suggestions for improvement: these are now being examined.
• The Board produced signed and sub-titled versions of its 1998 and 1999 public information videos for use by people with hearing impairment.
• Following discussion with the Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF), the Secretariat prepared inserts giving basic information about the euro and these were included with pension payments to over 40,000 public service pensioners in Spring 1999. At the same time, private pension fund administrators were invited by the IAPF to write to their pensioners giving similar information, and were supplied with a standard text for this purpose. In addition, the ECBI took stands at two exhibitions which were organised for the purpose of disseminating information to elderly people.

35. The Education Sector

From its establishment, the Board has given a very high priority to ensuring that information about the euro is made widely available to teachers and students. This is important both as an end in itself and also because students will bring the information they receive in school home to their families. The Board's activities in the education sector include the following:

• In Spring 1998, the Secretariat set up a liaison group on the euro with representatives of the Department of Education and Science, in order to co-ordinate initiatives in the education area;
• In co-operation with the Department of Education and Science, the Secretariat has twice carried out comprehensive mailings of posters to all schools. The first of these posters, issued in May/June 1998, set out the changeover timetable as well as showing what euro notes and coins will look like. A further set of posters, this time highlighting the conversion rate and providing sample conversions from IR£ to euro, was issued in March/April 1999;
• The Board's website, established in September 1998, contains a special section for schools and the Board has sought to promote use of the website as a resource for teachers and students, for example by means of articles in the members' magazines of the three teachers' unions as well as in the "Education and Living" Supplement of the Irish Times. In addition, the Secretariat has initiated work in conjunction with the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) to develop the educational content of the website;
• In advance of the launch of the euro, a leaflet on the euro and its implications for teachers, prepared in Irish and English in conjunction with the Secretariat, was issued by the Department of Education and Science to all teachers;
• As already mentioned, in Spring 1999 the Board's information road show, in conjunction with the European Commission Representation's public information service in Ireland (EPIC), visited a number of regional centres to provide information on the euro. Visits to schools, involving presentations on the euro to several classes in each of the schools visited, formed an important part of this activity;
• Detailed subject guides are being prepared by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and are intended for issue to all teachers for the start of the next school year, i.e. in September 1999. The guidelines will inform teachers and schools of the specific areas of the curriculum where the introduction of the euro will involve changes to the content of syllabuses, courses and programmes;
• In addition, the NCCA has begun work on a "special needs" curriculum. This will address the needs of students with mild, moderate and profound handicaps and will also supplement mainstream teaching where additional or specialised materials or approaches are required. It is expected that this new curriculum will be available in 2001 and it will include material on teaching for the changeover to the euro;
• A copy of the Board's 1999 public information video was sent to every post-primary school in the country in Spring 1999.

The Board's website was launched on 28 September 1998. It includes information on the role of the Board; illustrations of the designs for euro notes and coins, including the designs for all the national faces of the coins; a 'euro calculator' for conversions between Irish pound amounts and euro amounts and vice versa; and a full list of the euro conversion rates for the participating currencies. It also includes information materials produced by the Board and by the Department of Finance; all press releases relating to ECBI activities and events; and an extensive list of addresses of other useful web sites. In the legislation area, the site includes the EU legal framework for the euro; Council Regulation (EC) No. 2866/98 of 31 December 1998 on the conversion rates between the euro and the participating currencies; and the Economic and Monetary Union Act, 1998, including the Explanatory Memorandum accompanying the Act and the various Orders made under the Act. Finally, the site contains a schools section consisting of an interactive quiz for second level, a worksheet for primary level, notes on the use of the site for the guidance of primary school teachers and the leaflet 'Introducing the EURO: Information for Teachers'.

Nearly 9,000 "hits" were recorded on the website from its launch at end-September 1998 to 30 April 1999. The site will continue to be developed; in particular, the educational elements of the site will be developed further, as outlined in the section above on the education sector.

37. Training for the Public Sector

During 1998, the ECBI Secretariat provided an extensive training programme for staff in the civil and public service. In particular, it was important to ensure that all public sector bodies were aware of, and had made preparations to implement, the commitments with regard to services in euro which the public sector made in the National Changeover Plan. The training programme was divided into two phases as follows.

First, even before the Board was established, the staff who joined the Secretariat at its establishment had organised a series of half-day seminars throughout the country which were attended by almost 800 public service staff during March and April 1998. A combination of Secretariat staff and outside experts provided guidance on the key issues and a case study on the euro changeover in the Electricity Supply Board was presented as part of the programme. In addition, the Secretariat organised lunchtime presentations in Government Departments during June and July 1998 which were attended by over 300 civil servants.

The second phase was organised in the run-up to the launch of the euro. This time the emphasis was on training key staff who would in turn provide training for other staff in their organisations. Briefing sessions for the civil service were run in conjunction with the Centre for Organisation and Management Development of the Department of Finance, while sessions for the local authority, health and education sectors were run in conjunction with the Institute of Public Administration. At the request of the Department of Health and Children, a slightly different approach was taken for the health sector: this involved presentations by representatives from that sector as well as by Secretariat staff. Everyone who attended the courses was provided with a training pack, prepared by the Secretariat, to facilitate their onward training of their colleagues. A total of 450 public sector staff attended the eleven sessions in the second phase and by the end of 1998, a total of 1200 training packs had been distributed by the ECBI; all public sector organisations also received a copy of the ECBI video on the changeover to the euro, for use for training purposes.

38. Training for Voluntary and Community Groups

The Secretariat also offered training for personnel from a number of voluntary and community organisations. The organisations represented on the ECBI's Consultative Panel, together with other organisations, were invited to send representatives. As well as training, those who attended were provided with copies of the ECBI video and training pack and were requested, in turn, to provide information programmes for the staff and/or members of their own organisations.

39. Talks and Presentations

As well as the provision of training, an important feature of the Board's activities was giving talks and making presentations to local and community groups etc about the changeover to the euro. It was not of course possible to respond to all requests received; nevertheless, in addition to the civil and public service training outlined above, secretariat staff gave some 30 talks on the changeover, including sessions at a number of public conferences and talks to ladies' clubs and senior citizens' groups. The secretariat also provided ECBI material, including the public information video, in response to requests from groups arranging their own talks and presentations.

40. Social Welfare Leaflet

Following consultation with the Board, the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs produced a leaflet on the social welfare aspects of the changeover to the euro and made copies of it available at Social Welfare Offices and Post Offices in Spring 1999.

41. Telephone Help-line

At the start of the first phase of its public information programme, in June 1998, the ECBI established a locall telephone service for the public (i.e. calls charged at local call rates, regardless of callers' location in Ireland). It is serviced by staff of the ECBI. The telephone number is 1890 20 10 50. As already mentioned, a booklet "The euro.....your questions answered" was compiled from questions frequently asked on this locall number.

42. "Aertel" Page

In October 1998, the ECBI established a page (page 678) in the Public Information Network on the "Aertel" service on RTE television. It provides details on the euro/Irish pound conversion rate, the conversion and rounding rules and the changeover timetable as well as details on how to contact the Board and, for business enquiries, the Forfás EMU Business Awareness Campaign.

43. Television Series

The ECBI co-sponsored a six-part television series Living with the euro which was shown by RTE on Sunday nights in October and November 1998. Inter alia, it examined the implications of EMU and the euro for consumers and businesses. A shortened version of the series was shown by RTE in the days immediately following the lauch of the euro.

44. The Loughrea Euro Town Project

The Loughrea Euro Town Project is intended as a demonstration exercise whereby the business community throughout Ireland will learn from the experiences of a select number of businesses in Loughrea, Co. Galway, as the latter change over to euro-based trading on an accelerated basis. Up to 30 local businesses will participate in the project, which will run for 18 months, and will be supported in their changeover efforts with information, advice and training. Their experiences in drawing up and implementing changeover plans, and in dealing with any difficulties they encounter, will be documented, and will be communicated through a variety of media to the wider business community. The project is based on an original concept by the Loughrea Chamber of Commerce and has been developed by the Forfás EMU Business Awareness Campaign with the support of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. An official from the ECBI is a member of the Project Management Committee. The project was launched by Mr Noel Treacy, TD, Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce, on 29 March 1999.

45. Cross-Border Co-operation on the Euro

In co-operation with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Forfás EMU Business Awareness Campaign, the Secretariat was involved in the production of a leaflet entitled "Wake up to the Euro and your Cross-Border Trade". The leaflet was produced jointly with the relevant Departments and State Agencies in Northern Ireland and in consultation with an informal group of business and trade union representatives, and will be distributed to businesses on both sides of the border.

46. Stands at Exhibitions

As a further means of bringing information to the public, the ECBI took a stand at four exhibitions during the year. These were the 'Services for Older People' Exhibition in the RDS, Dublin organised by Age Action Ireland, and the 'Holiday World' Exhibition and 'Third Age Expo' both also at the RDS; and the 'Our House' Exhibition at the Point Depot, Dublin.

47. Multi-Media Exhibition

The Board also organised and funded a multi-media exhibition on the euro for the foyer of the offices of the European Commission's Representation in Dawson St., Dublin. This exhibition can be adapted for use in the travelling Roadshow of the European Public Information Centre (EPIC).

48. Interviews with the Media

Interviews with the media naturally formed an important part of the Board's work. The Chairperson and Secretariat staff gave many interviews, on television and radio (both national and local) and, to a lesser extent, in the newspapers. The main occasions on which these interviews took place were at the launch of the Board in May 1998, and at the launches of the various phases of the Public Information Programme (in June and September 1998 and January 1999); around the time of the launch of the euro on 1 January 1999; and during the regional visits in Spring 1999, during each of which a member of the visiting team from the Secretariat gave an extended interview to a local radio station. In addition, the Chairperson gave a number of interviews to "Europe Week", which provides information on a syndicated basis to some 30 independent and community radio stations around Ireland. Moreover, he and other members of the Secretariat appeared on a number of individual programmes on television and radio, while Secretariat staff also appeared on community radio on a number of occasions. The work of the Board was also featured in a number of articles in the print media.

49. Summary