PART I: Introduction; and Establishment, Tasks and Membership of the Board etc.

Euro Changeover Board of Ireland

Retail Sub-Committee                                               

Information Sub-Committe

Cash Changeover Working Group      Secretariat

 

Consultative Panel


1. Introduction  This Report is in four parts:

• Part I describes the establishment and tasks of the Board, and its membership and that of its Sub-Committees, Working Group, Consultative Panel and Secretariat;
• Part II deals with the Board's activities as regards implementation of the changeover to the euro;
• Part III deals with the Board's activities as regards public information;
• Part IV describes other activities carried out by the Board.

Appendixes list the members of the Board, its Sub-Committees, Working Group, Consultative Panel and Secretariat; set out the Assignment Agreement between the European Commission and Ireland regarding copyright in the common face of euro coins; list the recipients of funding under the Board's 1999 Non-Governmental Organisations Programme; provide a statement of expenditure; and give statistics on distribution of information material.

2. Establishment and Tasks of Board  The Euro Changeover Board of Ireland was established by the Minister for Finance, Mr Charlie McCreevy TD, on 5 May 1998. Its establishment followed the decision by European Union Heads of State or Government on 2 May 1998 that Ireland and ten other Member States qualified to form an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and adopt a single currency, the euro, from 1 January 1999. The Board has two basic tasks:

• to oversee the detailed implementation of the changeover to the euro; and
• to provide public and consumer information.

The first annual report of the Board covered the period 5 May 1998 to 30 April 1999. This is the second annual report of the Board and covers the period 1 May 1999 to 30 April 2000.

3. Membership of the Board  The Board includes representatives from a wide range of organisations across Irish society. Its membership is set out at Appendix 1. The Board met nine times in the period of this report.

4. Sub-Committees and Working Group   The Board has two Sub-Committees and a Working Group. The Retail Sub-Committee was established in 1998 to consider how best to manage the 1 January 2002 date for the introduction of euro notes and coins. It met only once in the period of this report, because in May 1999 the Board decided to set up a Cash Changeover Working Group to produce a draft plan for the changeover to euro cash in 2002 and that the Retail Sub-Committee need not meet during the Working Group's existence. The Working Group met intensively during the period of this report. The Information Sub-Committee was established in 1998 to provide a forum for exchange of information among the major information providers, to help develop the Board's information campaign and to cooperate in disseminating the Board's information materials. The Information Sub-Committee met four times. The membership of the Sub-Committees and the Working Group is set out at Appendix 2.

5. Consultative Panel  The Board also established a Consultative Panel in 1998: it consists of representatives of organisations representing people likely to have special needs in the context of the changeover to the euro. The Panel's functions are to inform the Board about these needs, to advise on how they should be addressed and to act as a channel for disseminating information. The Panel met five times during the period of this report and was enlarged early in 2000. Its membership is set out at Appendix 2.

6. Secretariat to the Board  The Department of Finance provides the Chairperson of and the Secretariat to the Board. These are listed at Appendix 3, which also shows how the Secretariat is organised.

7. Premises  The Board's premises are at 15 Lower Hatch St., Dublin 2.

ECBI Second Annual Report - Executive Summary

Part II: Overseeing the detailed implementation of the changeover