The Central Bank of Ireland

The Central Bank of Ireland is a member of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB)*. In preparation for Ireland’s participation in EMU, the Central Bank liaises with banks and other credit institutions through representation on committees and expert sub-groups established by the Irish Bankers’ Federation (IBF) and the Irish Mortgage and Savings Association (IMSA). The Bank also participates in public sector preparations. The Central Bank is represented on the Euro Changeover Board of Ireland.

From 1 January 1999:

	Monetary policy in the euro area will be formulated by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB), of which the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland is a member.
	The Central Bank of Ireland will participate in the implementation of monetary policy as part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).
	Central Bank operations in the Irish wholesale money and foreign exchange markets will be denominated in euro.
	Accounts with the Central Bank will be in euro. These are held by credit institutions, the Government and international institutions.
	Money and banking statistics will be provided to the Central Bank, and by the Central Bank to the ECB, in euro.
	All Irish credit institutions which are members of the Irish Real-Time Gross Settlement system will have access to the Trans-European Automated Real-Time Gross Settlement Express Transfer (TARGET) system through the Central Bank’s own connection to the system. The TARGET system is mainly intended to allow institutions to make and receive same-day large-value euro payments on their own behalf and on behalf of their customers to and from all other EU countries. The TARGET system will be available to the institutions from 6 am to 5 pm (GMT) each opening day.
	The production of euro coins will begin in 1999, while the production of euro banknotes will begin in 2000. Planning for the distribution of euro notes and coins is on-going.

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The ESCB comprises the ECB and the Central Banks of the 15 EU Member States and was set up in June 1998. Its primary task is to maintain price stability and to define and implement the single monetary policy of the euro area. Central Banks of Member States not participating in EMU are not involved in the formulation and implementation of the single monetary policy.