Euro Changeover (Amounts) Bill, 2001 2nd Stage in Dáil Eireann Opening Speech by Mr. Charlie McCreevy TD, Minister for Finance  This is a short and technical Bill. Its main purpose is to provide, in necessary cases, for the replacement of Irish pound amounts in law with convenient amounts in euro, to apply from 1 January 2002. The need for the Bill arises from the fact that under Regulation (EC) No. 974/98, Irish pound amounts in law at end-2001 are from then on to be read as amounts in euro, converted at the fixed conversion rate 1 euro = £0.787564 and rounded to the nearest cent. As a result, convenient Irish pound amounts - for example £10, £100, £500 - will convert to non-convenient amounts in euro: for instance, these examples convert to €12.70, €126.97 and €634.87 respectively. Action is therefore required to provide, in necessary cases - for example, where amounts are usually paid in cash - for convenient amounts in euro to replace existing Irish pound amounts from the start of next year. Much work has been done on this issue already - for example, this year’s Finance Act provided for the replacement of Irish pound amounts in the tax code with convenient amounts in euro from 1 January 2002, and the Social Welfare Act did the same for money amounts in the Social Welfare code. The present Bill is aimed, essentially, at dealing with places elsewhere in law where convenient amounts are necessary. The amounts covered in the Bill have been identified by Government Departments, following a trawl of their legislation, as needing to be replaced by convenient amounts in euro from 1 January 2002. I stress that the principle on which the move to convenient amounts, where necessary, has been made is that in all such cases we should favour the citizen. Before I turn to the specific provisions of the Bill, it is proper to give the House a brief description of the current state of changeover preparations. Euro notes and coins will be introduced into circulation on 1 January 2002; there will then be a period of about six weeks while the use of euro cash will be increasing and the use of Irish cash will be decreasing. Under our Cash Changeover Plan, published last year, it is intended that legal tender status will be withdrawn from Irish notes and coins at midnight on Saturday 9 February 2002. This period should be long enough to enable people to familiarise themselves with the new currency, and short enough to ensure that the changeover is carried out quickly. In March I laid a draft Order before both Houses of the Oireachtas to provide for the withdrawal of legal tender status at midnight on 9 February 2002, and Deputies will be aware that a resolution approving the Order is being taken together with the debate on this Bill. Preparations for the changeover to the euro essentially involve six elements: legislation, the production of euro cash, preparations by the public sector, preparations by the private sector, consumer matters and the provision of public information. I have dealt with recent legislation already. As regards cash production, I am assured by the Central Bank that this is on target - it will involve some 250 million euro notes and over 1000 million euro coins. Government Departments continue to confirm that progress on implementation of their changeover plans, and of those of the bodies under their aegis, is on target. Each Department and body is of course responsible for the changeover of its own operations, but they must report regularly to my Department. Preparations by the private sector are primarily a matter for companies themselves. However, as long ago as 1996, Forfas established a campaign to provide businesses with the information they need to prepare themselves for the changeover. The EMU Business Awareness Campaign has distributed very large quantities of information to Irish businesses. Forfas has also involved business extensively in its Campaign by means of its Consultative Committee, which includes a wide range of business organisations, and its Retail Group, which includes a wide range of retail organisations. The Forfas Loughrea Euro Town Project, under the aegis of my colleague Minister of State Noel Treacy, provided excellent case studies of the practical experience of businesses making changeover preparations. More recently, Forfas has produced a document entitled "Getting your retail businesses ready for the euro": over 150,000 copies of these guidelines have been issued, including one to every retailer in the country. Despite the excellent work that Forfas has been doing and continues to do - and despite the fact that by now, every business person in the country must have heard many times that the euro is coming - it is clear that some businesses have still to engage seriously with their changeover preparations. The message for these businesses is simple: PREPARE NOW. While I am dealing with business preparations, I should mention a recent agreement aimed at facilitating a speedy changeover to euro cash next January. The House will be aware that under the Cash Changeover Plan, retailers will give change only in euro from 1 January 2002, and that Irish notes and coins being received inwards will be retained and not issued outwards again. The purpose of these measures is obvious: to make sure that the changeover to euro cash is carried out as quickly and as efficiently as possible. This is particularly in the interests of retailers. However, retailers have been concerned that they will have to pay bank handling charges for the euro cash that they will need to get in advance of 1 January 2002. They have also been concerned that they will face cash lodgement charges on the Irish cash they will be depositing with their banks during the dual circulation period. I am pleased to tell the House that the Euro Changeover Board of Ireland and the Central Bank have reached an agreement with the banks whereby banks will not charge cash handling charges on euro cash provided to retailers in advance of 1 January 2002; and will not charge cash lodgement charges on Irish notes and coins lodged by retailers during the dual circulation period and for a short time afterwards - that is, from 1 January 2002 until the end of the week after legal tender status is withdrawn from Irish notes and coins. In return for this waiver, the Central Bank will, during the dual circulation period and for a short period afterwards, provide the banks with a lodgement fee for Irish notes and coins that it receives from them. The lodgement fee will partly - but only partly - compensate the banks for the fee income they will forgo. The cost is estimated at £5 - £6 million. The banks will shortly be communicating with their retailer customers about their arrangements in relation to this agreement. In addition, they will be giving details of the date next January on which they will debit retailer customers for the euro cash provided to them in advance of 1 January. The consumer aspects of the changeover are being addressed by my colleague Mr Tom Kitt TD, Minister for Consumer Affairs, and by the Director of Consumer Affairs. They relaunched the National Code of Practice on the Euro Changeover last December, along with an Action Plan for consumer protection during the changeover. The House will be aware that a key aspect of the Code is that subscribers to it, and to any sectoral code approved under it, commit themselves to carrying out the changeover fairly and to seek no advantage from the conversion. The final element in the changeover preparations is the provision of public information. The Euro Changeover Board of Ireland has responsibility in this area and it has been carrying out very extensive public information activities since its establishment, in a programme that is part-funded by the EU. Among many other items, the Board has sent a leaflet about the euro to every household, every year since its establishment   has organised widespread circulation of leaflets, posters, booklets and other information materials, including educational material for schools and materials for every teacher   has run several advertising campaigns on television and radio and in the press   has set up a lo-call helpline and a website, the latter with a special section for schools, and   has made a train-the-trainers pack widely available for general use in both the public and voluntary sectors. The needs of low-awareness and special needs groups are catered for through the Board’s Consultative Panel. Furthermore, the Board runs a Programme of part-funding for non-Governmental Organisations carrying out euro information activities, and many of the projects funded under the Programme relate to these groups. This Programme has been operated by the Board since 1998; its most recent round of funding, which closed in early April, attracted over 150 applications. The Board is issuing very large quantities of information: in the month of April alone, it issued over half a million items of information about the euro. The Board is also currently distributing a leaflet on the euro to every household in the country. Public information activities will of course intensify greatly in the Autumn. Let me now return to the Bill before the House. As I have said, it is a short and technical Bill. I should add that it has been the subject of widespread consultation among interested parties, including those represented on the Euro Changeover Board of Ireland. Most of the money amounts covered in the Bill are routine fees and charges in respect of licences, permits etc. which are or may be paid in cash. These are being reduced to the nearest convenient amount below the exact euro equivalent, so as to favour the citizen. A typical example, with which Deputies will be familiar, is the deposit for candidates at Dail elections. This currently stands at £300, which would convert to €380.92 at the conversion rate. However, in the Bill I am providing for the more convenient - and easier to remember - amount of €375. The Bill also includes a number of thresholds, and these are being increased to the nearest convenient (and memorable) euro amounts, again so as to favour the citizen. An example here is the £500 threshold for disclosure of gifts under the Ethics in Public Office Act, 1995, which would convert to €634.87: the Bill provides for a convenient amount of €650 in this case. Turning to the specific sections of the Bill: Section 1 provides for the replacement of Irish pound amounts, at specific references in Acts and Statutory Instruments, with convenient euro amounts to apply from 1 January 2002. It does so by means of general provisions which refer to the Schedules to the Bill. Schedule 1 lists the Irish pound amounts being replaced, and the euro amounts to replace them, in respect of fees and charges; and Schedule 2 lists the statutory references at which the replacement will take place. Similarly, Schedule 3 lists the Irish pound amounts being replaced, and the euro amounts to replace them, in respect of thresholds; and Schedule 4 lists the statutory references at which the replacement will take place. In all cases only the specific amount appearing at the exact statutory reference will be replaced: other amounts appearing elsewhere in those Acts will not be affected, but will convert to euro at the conversion rate, under the EU Regulation. Sections 2 and 3 are technical provisions in support of Section 1. They provide respectively for dispensing with consents and for the continuation in force of existing powers to set amounts. They are included for the avoidance of doubt. Section 4 provides for technical amendments to the Economic and Monetary Union Act, 1998, so as to align the exact time of the withdrawal of legal tender status from IR£ notes and coins - intended for midnight on Saturday 9 February 2002 - with that of the repeal of earlier law under which IR£ notes and coins are issued or under which limits are placed on the number of coins that may be tendered. Because of a wording difference, under the 1998 Act as it currently stands these repeals would come into effect from the start of the day for withdrawal of legal tender status from Irish notes and coins, whereas legal tender status itself would continue until the end of the day. The effect of the section is to eliminate this gap. The draft Order I have laid before both Houses to withdraw legal tender status has been drawn up on the assumption that the 1998 Act will be amended as provided for in this section, and the Order will not be made until this Bill is enacted. Section 5 amends the Credit Union Act, 1997 in a number of ways, with effect from 1 January 2002. First it redefines a share in a credit union as one euro (in place of one pound) standing to the credit of a member in a share account. It goes on to make a number of consequential changes to amounts dependent on the definition of a share, and to substitute convenient amounts in euro for certain minimum and maximum amounts in the Act. Section 6 provides for the threshold for declaration of interest by staff of the Heritage Council. The Irish pound and euro amounts are actually already included in Schedule 3, but €1,300 in figures is being substituted for the present "one thousand pounds" in words in the Heritage Act, in line with general drafting practice. Section 7 contains the usual citation provisions. Finally, I should mention to the House that I will be proposing a number of amendments to the Bill at Committee Stage. One amendment will defer until the next working day, the giving of value by banks in respect of transactions that fall due for processing by them on a day when the TARGET interbank settlement system is closed by decision of the European Central Bank. This is similar to what already happens in respect of public holidays. Indeed, the vast majority of the closed days already correspond with our public holidays. The exceptions are Labour Day on 1 May - our public holiday is on the first Monday in May - and 31 December this year, when the ECB has decided that TARGET should be closed in order to safeguard the smooth conversion of retail payment systems and internal bank systems to the euro. The ECB has welcomed our intention to introduce this provision. As regards the other amendments, a couple are technical, while the others will merely add a few references that have come to notice recently from Departments and delete a reference that is now going to be dealt with otherwise. I commend the Bill to the House and I look forward to hearing Deputies’ contributions on it.