Section 1
Contains the short title and commencement provisions.
Section 2
Sets out how references in the Act are to be interpreted.
Section 3
Is a standard provision concerning expenses incurred in administration.
Section 4
Deals with the laying of regulations and orders before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Section 5
Defines certain terms used in Part II of the Act. The section also provides that, unless the context otherwise requires, words or expressions used in the Act which are also used in Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 have the same meaning in the Act as they have in the Regulation.
Section 6
Replaces section 24 of the Central Bank Act, 1989, with a statement declaring that by virtue of Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98, from 1 January 1999 the currency of the State will be the euro and (until 31 December 2001) the Irish pound unit will continue to exist as a subdivision of the euro. The section also amends section 2 of the Decimal Currency Act, 1969, to reflect the fact that the euro and the cent will join the Irish pound and penny as legal denominations of the currency of the State from 1 January 1999.
Section 7
Confirms that contracts may be denominated in euro during the transitional period by virtue of Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98, despite the fact that euro notes and coins will not be in circulation.
Section 8
Defines a term used in Chapter III.
Section 9
Gives the Minister for Finance power to shorten the maximum period of six months after the end of the
transitional period on 31 December 2001 during which, under Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98, Irish pound notes and coins can remain legal tender. It is as yet too early to set the date for the withdrawal of legal tender status from Irish pound notes and coins, so the section does not itself set the date, but provides for it to be set by Ministerial order or, in the absence of such an order, for the date to be 30 June 2002. Before any such order can be made, a resolution approving it must be passed by each House of the Oireachtas. Section 9 also provides for the repeal of section 118(3) of the Central Bank Act, 1989, which provides for the continuing legal tender status of Irish pounds, since Irish pounds will no longer be legal tender from 30 June 2002 or the earlier date set by the Minister.
Section 10
Provides that no person, other than the Central Bank of Ireland and such persons as the Minister may
designate by order, will be obliged to accept more than fifty euro coins in any single transaction. The section also provides for the repeal, from the date of withdrawal of legal tender status from Irish pound notes and coins, of sections 8, 9 and 10 of the Decimal Currency Act, 1969, and Section 15 of the Decimal Currency Act, 1970.
Section 11
Gives the Minister for Finance power to provide euro coins and to set out by order their technical
specifications, which must comply with the technical specifications which the EU Council of Ministers lays down under the Treaty on European Union. The section also gives the Minister power to issue, through the Central Bank of Ireland, coins provided under this section. It confirms that, from 1 January 1999, the issuance of such coins will be subject to the approval by the European Central Bank of the volume of issue, as required by the Treaty, as will issuance of commemorative coins provided under Part III of the Act. The section also provides for the repeal of sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Decimal Currency Act, 1969, which deal with the provision and issuance of Irish pound coins, with effect from the date of withdrawal of legal tender status from Irish pound notes and coins.
Section 12
Extends to coins issued under this Act and comparable coins issued by other Member States
participating in the euro area the prohibition on counterfeiting in the Decimal Currency Act, 1969.
Section 13
Provides for defraying the cost of providing euro coins issued under Section 11 out of the general fund of the Central Bank of Ireland.
Section 14
Provides for the paying into the general fund of the Central Bank of Ireland the proceeds of issue of
euro coins issued under Section 11.
Section 15
Extends to coins issued under this Act, and to euro coins issued by other participating Member States which will be legal tender in Ireland, the power already available to the Minister for Finance under the Decimal Currency Act, 1969, to call in Irish coins by order. The section limits this power by requiring the consent of the European Central Bank to any order relating to matters within its competence under Article 105a(2) of the Treaty, which states that "Member States may issue coins subject to approval by the European Central Bank of the volume of the issue".
Section 16
Extends the Central Bank of Ireland's existing power to redeem Irish pound coins to include coins
issued under this Act and euro coins issued by other participating Member States which will be legal tender in Ireland.
Section 17
Extends the existing prohibition on melting down of coins to include coins issued under this Act and euro coins issued by other participating Member States which will be legal tender in Ireland.
Section 18
Amends section 121 of the Central Bank Act, 1989, which deals with the redemption of legal tender
notes only, to provide that the Central Bank of Ireland may continue to redeem Irish pound notes after they have ceased to be legal tender.
Section 19
Amends section 122 of the Central Bank Act, 1989, to provide that the Central Bank of Ireland must
have the authority of the European Central Bank to call in notes.
Section 20
Amends section 57 of the Copyright Act, 1963, to reflect the copyright of the European Central Bank
in relation to euro notes, and the copyright of the Minister for Finance in relation to the national face of euro coins issued under Section 11 of this Act.
Section 21
Provides that the issuing authority for statutory forms which contain references to sums in Irish pounds or are designed to accommodate references to such sums may change the forms, or allow them to be changed, to show also the corresponding amounts in euro or to accommodate references to sums in euro.
Section 22
States that from 1 January 1999, the Dublin Interbank Offered Rate (DIBOR) will be replaced by the
Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR).
Section 23
Deals with the redenomination of outstanding debt into euro.
Subsection (1)
Provides that the Minister for Finance may, by order, on such date or dates and under such terms and conditions as he or she determines, redenominate into euro all or part of the outstanding debt issued by or on behalf of the State under Irish law and denominated in Irish pounds.
Subsection (2)
Provides that the Minister for Finance may redenominate into euro any of the State's debt issued in a currency to be replaced by the euro, provided that the Member State in the currency of which the debt is denominated has redenominated all or part of its national currency general government debt into euro. It also provides that the method of redenomination the Minister uses must be that laid down in the law of the Member State under which the debt was issued, and obliges the Minister to give notice in Iris Oifigiúil of his or her intention to effect a redenomination under the subsection. Finally, it permits issuers of debt other than the State to use the method of redenomination laid down by the Minister under the provisions of Subsection (1) to redenominate into euro any negotiable debt issued by them under the law of the State and denominated in any currency to be replaced by the euro.
Subsection (3)
Deals with facility agreements in respect of borrowing which State bodies have with financial institutions, where the State body concerned and all other relevant parties to the agreement agree to redenomination into the euro. It provides that, subject to certain conditions, where adjustments to such agreements are agreed among the parties thereto, there will be no need for these parties to obtain Ministerial consent to such adjustments, provided the aggregate amount of borrowings of the State body concerned does not exceed the limit (if any) for which Ministerial consent has already been obtained. The subsection provides for a similar waiver in relation to State guarantees.
Section 24
Provides that redenomination of share capital from 1 January 2002 pursuant to Article 14 of Council
Regulation (EC) No 974/98 must occur at the level of total share capital or any part of the total issued or to be issued share capital, that nominal share value in euro is to be calculated as the total share value divided by the number of shares and that the nominal share value is not to be rounded.
Section 25
Provides that companies wishing to redenominate their share capital into euro during the transitional
period (from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2001) may do so provided that a resolution approving the
redenomination is passed by shareholders. The section provides that redenomination must occur at the level of total share capital or any part of the total issued or to be issued share capital; that nominal share value in euro is to be calculated as the total share value divided by the number of shares, and that the nominal share value is not to be rounded. The section also requires that a printed copy of any resolution approving redenomination be sent by the company to the Registrar of Companies within 15 days of its passing, and lays down penalties for failure to do so.
Section 26
Deals with companies wishing to renominalise, that is, to express share capital figures in convenient
amounts in euro if simple redenomination into euro leads to inconvenient (i.e. uneven) amounts. The section provides that such companies may do so either during the transitional period (from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2001) or thereafter up to 30 June, 2003, provided that a resolution approving the renominalisation is passed by shareholders. In cases where renominalisation would lead to a decrease in share capital, the section provides that a special resolution of shareholders will be required to the effect that an amount equal to the decrease will be paid into a fund to be known as the Capital Conversion Reserve Fund. The section also requires that a printed copy of any resolution under the section be sent by the company to the Registrar of Companies within 15 days of its passing, and lays down penalties for failure to do so.
Section 27
Amends section 134 of the Central Bank Act, 1989, to confirm that the Minister for Finance's ability
to suspend certain transactions in the national interest under that section shall be without prejudice to the performance by the Central Bank of Ireland of any function, duty or power required under the Treaty or the Statute of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).
Section 28
Amends sections 10 and 13 of the Central Bank Act, 1997, to confirm that the requirement that the
consent of the Minister for Finance be obtained before the Central Bank of Ireland may refuse to approve the rules of a payment system or subsequently revoke such approval shall not extend to the ESCB-related activities of the Central Bank of Ireland.
Section 29
Empowers the Minister to make regulations for enabling Part II of the Act to have full effect.
Section 30
Empowers the Minister to provide coins of a commemorative nature, and to issue and put on sale to
the public such coins through the Central Bank of Ireland.
Section 31
Provides that the Central Bank of Ireland shall determine the price at which any type of
commemorative coin is put on sale under section 30, but shall not determine a price below face value.
Section 32
Provides that coins issued under Part III shall be legal tender in the State, subject to the general limit as to the number of coins that are legal tender for any single transaction.
Section 33
Provides for defraying the cost of providing coins issued under Part III out of the general fund of the Central Bank of Ireland and for the paying into the general fund of the Central Bank of Ireland the proceeds of issue of such coins.
Section 34
Applies section 57 of the Copyright Act, 1963 to coins issued under Part III.
An Roinn Airgeadais
Lunasa, 1998.
