The Houses of the Oireachtas and the Move to EMU 

In the lead-up to the EU leaders' decision, the Houses of the Oireachtas considered Ireland's prospective participation in EMU on a number of occasions. In particular  

the Minister for Finance appeared before a joint meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committees on Finance and the Public Service, and on Enterprise and Small Business, on 4 February 1998; 

in February/March 1998, the Central Bank Act, 1998 was debated and passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas. This Act was designed to bring the legislation governing the Central Bank of Ireland into conformity with the relevant provisions of the Maastricht Treaty and of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank set out in Protocol No 3 to that Treaty; 

following publication in March 1998 of the convergence reports from the EMI, the European Commission and the Central Bank of Ireland, and the European Commission's recommendation, the Government introduced motions on Ireland's prospective participation in EMU in Dáil Éireann on 1 April and in Seanad Éireann on 7 April 1998. Both Houses noted the recommendation from the Commission that Ireland fulfils the necessary conditions for the adoption of the single currency.