Practical Preparations for the Changeover to the Euro  

As regards practical preparations, the Department of Finance is the Department with overall responsibility for coordinating Ireland's preparations for the changeover to the euro. It has responsibility for coordinating the preparations of the Irish public administration and has a key role in helping the rest of the economy to prepare itself for the changeover.  

The Department has put in place a number of initiatives in connection with the changeover:  

• The Single Currency Officers Team (SCOT) was set up in Autumn 1995. SCOT consists of a representative from every Government Department as well as from the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Central Statistics Office and the National Treasury Management Agency. The Central Bank of Ireland also participates in SCOT. SCOT's remit is to coordinate preparations for the introduction of the euro in the public sector. Every Government Department has prepared a detailed changeover plan in respect of its operations, has designated a senior officer to oversee the implementation of its plan and has applied similar arrangements as appropriate to all bodies under its aegis. Progress reports are submitted to the Government on how the changeover is progressing across the public sector. 
• THE EURO CHANGEOVER BOARD OF IRELAND The Euro Changeover Board of Ireland was established by the Minister for Finance on 5 May 1998 and has two basic tasks: to oversee the detailed implementation of the changeover to the euro and to provide public and consumer information. The Board includes representatives from ICTU and IBEC, from the community and voluntary pillar of Partnership 2000 and the National Women's Council and from consumer, business, financial and professional bodies, as well as from the European Commission Representation and European Parliament Office in Dublin, the Central Bank of Ireland, Forfás and relevant Government Departments. The Department of Finance provides the Chairperson and secretariat to the Board. 
• The National Information Programme on EMU and the changeover to the euro was launched in December 1996. The Programme is designed in phases to provide information on EMU and the changeover to the euro as the single currency project proceeds and is part-funded by the European Union. The first phase of the Programme ran to end-1997 and consisted mainly of the Forfás Business Awareness Campaign. 
• The Forfás Business Awareness Campaign aims to provide businesses with the information they need to prepare themselves for EMU and the changeover to the euro. The Departments of Finance and of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and the Central Bank of Ireland are represented on the Management Committee for the Campaign. A Consultative Committee advises on the direction of the Campaign: it includes representatives from businesses and trade associations, from professional bodies and from the State agencies that deal directly with businesses. 
• Following the EU leaders' confirmation in May 1998 that Ireland qualified to join EMU and adopt the euro from 1 January 1999, a substantial Public Information Programme was launched by the Euro Changeover Board of Ireland. This programme has included major advertising campaigns using press, radio and television, both before the introduction of the euro and after it; the distribution of two information leaflets, one before the introduction of the euro and one after it, to every household in the country; the production and widescale distribution of a video and other publications on the changeover to the euro; extensive distribution of posters to schools, libraries and public offices; the setting up of a website; and the provision of a LoCall telephone information service. The Euro Changeover Board of Ireland also administers a programme under which non-governmental organisations receive part funding for activities to promote awareness of the euro.