The euro goes public next week with dual pricing

IRISH shoppers and drinkers will get a foretaste next week of what it will be like when the euro becomes the common currency, if and when Ireland is among the first wave of currencies into European Monetary Union.

In an address on EMU to the Seanad yesterday, the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, said that as part of a public information campaign, next week will be designated a "Euro Week" when supermarkets and pubs will display their prices for selected items in both pounds and euros.

Since no conversion for the pound/euro has yet been established, Mr Quinn said that the dual pricing will be based on a notional rate of one euro to every 8op. For drinkers, this will mean that the ordinary £2 pint of plain will be retailing at 2.5 euros.

Mr Quinn added "Naturally this carries no implication for what the final figure will be - it is just an easy figure to calculate with."

The public awareness campaign for the euro will also include a campaign run by Forfas and the Department of Enterprise and Employment aimed at increasing awareness among small and medium sized enterprises of the euro and helping businesses prepare for the changeover.

In his address to the Seanad the Minister also said he is optimistic that a stability pact will be hammered out at next week's meeting of EU finance ministers. The ministers have agreed to meet next Thursday in advance of the European Council meeting the following day to try and resolve outstanding issues. The main issue, he said, is to define when the excess of a Government deficit over the Maastricht reference value can be considered "exceptional."

"This will not be an easy matter to resolve,

I am cautiously optimistic that it will be possible to settle it, if not at Ecofin, then at the Dublin European Council. The basic principles of the stability pact and how it would operate would then be in place," Mr Quinn added.