Opening Address By Mr. Noel Treacy T.D., Minister for Science, Technology and Commerceat the National Euro Conference Incorporating Tthe Loughrea Euro Town ProjectOn Monday, 19th February 2001 In the Meadow Court Hotel, Loughrea, Co. Galway IRISH BUSINESS PREPARATIONS FOR THE EURO

I am delighted to be here in the Meadow Court Hotel today to formally open the National Euro Conference. I am particularly delighted that the Loughrea Euro Town Project features significantly on the agenda. This is a project with which I have been closely associated over the last two years. The businesses of Loughrea Town have become national leaders in the process of changeover to the euro. This has already been of great benefit to them, but the next stage, is that the lessons learnt from the Loughrea Euro Town Project, become of benefit to businesses, especially SME’s, in the rest of this country, and throughout Europe as well. Already a number of other countries have shown a great interest in the results of this excellent Project.

Since the Project was formally launched just two years ago, it has provided a lot of practical information and solutions to the many problems of euro changeover. The Project Manager, Mr. Michael Callaly, and a number of Loughrea business people who participated in and benefited from this project will detail their experiences to you all throughout this Conference. On hearing them, I am sure that you will all agree with me that this project has been exceedingly worthwhile and practical.

The first stage of the Loughrea Project is about to conclude. Most of the participants have made very significant progress and indeed a number have been declared fully euro ready. This means that they know exactly what needs to be done for their business to implement the Euro changeover. At least two businesses are already operating in euro as their base currency.

The next stage of the Project is of equal importance. The practical solutions to the issues involved in euro changeover developed here in Loughrea must be communicated to SME’s throughout this country and beyond so that they can benefit and thus make their own changeover to euro easier.

The timing of today’s conference is also very appropriate. The countdown has already started on the number of days before the final stage of economic and monetary union, the introduction of euro notes and coins on the 1st January, 2002. For business the time is very short. It is imperative that all Irish businesses are prepared to operate in the euro by year-end. Today’s conference is part of an intensive campaign to ensure that this is achieved

The Forfás EMU National Business Awareness Campaign has the responsibility for assisting Irish enterprise to prepare for changeover to euro. They have devoted a lot of resources to this and have developed a significant body of information and advice. This is available free to the business community, all of whom must avail of it. It is the responsibility of each individual business to become ready to operate in euro. Leaving this task to the autumn will be too late in many cases and will involve unnecessary costs and delays for business if immediate action is not taken.

Euro notes and coins come on stream on the 1st January 2,002, and a period of dual currency circulation will exist for just six weeks. This has significant implications for all businesses whether they are large, medium or small. Customer/supplier relationships, banking, accounting systems, computer systems, price points, dual pricing and cash handling are just some of the issues that need to be addressed. Businesses need to fully understand the many challenges that they face and the critical need to make changes in time. Today’s national conference is designed to provide a "wake-up call" to Irish business, as survey evidence suggests that many companies have not yet begun the required preparations.

The Loughrea Euro Town Project targeted the key issues of EMU preparation for business. The results, as you will hear, are of considerable help to businesses throughout this country in making the changeover to euro. The diverse selection of businesses involved in this project including retail, services, manufacturing, tourism and others, ensures that most areas of economic activity were covered by the Loughrea Project.

I would like to take this opportunity to commend each of the 30 participants in the Loughrea Euro Town Project for their sustained enthusiasm and support for this project, as they moved through its various stages and undertook the numerous tasks required. Their commitment was critical for the overall success of this project. Without their eagerness to fully embrace the euro at an early stage, there would, quite simply, have been no project. I have no doubt that they in turn have realised significant benefits from moving to euro in a planned and structured way. The overall conclusion of this Project is an optimistic one. Once the issues are identified and appropriate plans drawn up, changeover to the euro can, in most cases, be achieved with relative ease.

Through the efforts of the Eurotown Project participants, a number of problems, latent and otherwise, were identified and practical solutions developed. The issues highlighted are diverse and range from the availability of suitable accounting software, to problems relating to the payment of foreign suppliers using euro cheques, to the non availability of a suitable pricing gun for dual pricing purposes. These and many other issues identified by this project are contributing, at national level, to our understanding of the many problems facing businesses, particularly SME’s, as they approach the changeover.

A significant milestone in this project occurred on the 1st of February last year when one of the project participants, Flynn Concrete Products, successfully completed its changeover and became the first company in Ireland, to operate in euro as its base currency. We heartily congratulate Martin, Bridie and John Flynn, together with John Niland, on this unique achievement. Other participants in this project successfully followed throughout the past year.

The lessons learned as these businesses switched to euro-based trading has provided a practical insight into how the changeover can be managed in a smooth, efficient and cost-effective manner. This was the experience of most participants. Copying the approaches used here in Loughrea will save time and money for businesses currently trying to complete their preparations, throughout the country.

In order to exploit the full benefit of this project as a demonstration model, a number of case studies derived from the actual experiences of the participant companies here in Loughrea are being drawn up and circulated to the wider business community by the Forfás EMU Business Awareness Campaign. It is also envisaged that these case studies will be used as the basis for seminars and meetings to be held throughout this country, in the run-up to the changeover. A number of guidelines for dealing with specific issues such as training for retail staff and software compatibility for the euro are also available from the Forfás Campaign.

The project web-site has now been in place for over one year, with the changeover timetables and plans for the thirty local participants detailed on it. The experiences of the Loughrea participants have been analysed and reported on the web-site. This will enable the individual people with responsibility for implementing euro changeover to see how businesses of a similar size and nature are currently managing the changeover.

The unique nature of this project, as the only demonstration project of its kind taking place within the entire euro-zone, will help to place Loughrea and, in turn, Ireland, in a leading role in EMU preparations. Having a conference such as this, in the presence of Commissioner Solbes and the other eminent guests, offers an opportunity for Loughrea to promote itself on both the national and international stages.

I would like to express my deep personal appreciation to the Loughrea Chamber of Commerce for this initiative and vision which they showed in conceiving the idea for this project. In particular I would like to thank their President, Mr. Kevin Glynn, and Honorary Secretary, Mr. Eoghan Hanly, who along with Mr. Michael O'Hanlon, initiated the Euro Town concept. I would also express my personal thanks to the Project Manager, Mr. Michael Callaly, who has worked tirelessly to ensure that both the participants and the wider business community have benefited from his expertise and advice. The Management Committee, which comprised of representatives from this town and the members of bodies with responsibility for the euro changeover, did an excellent job in overseeing this project and bringing it to its present successful position. Finally, I would like once again to thank all of the participants without whom this project would not have been possible.

Loughrea – "St. Brendan’s Town of the Grey Lake", has played a major role, through this project, in both national and international monetary history. The people of Loughrea can be justly proud of their Town, its people, and their businesses. This historic project reflects a Community that has local leadership and business acumen second to none. On behalf of our Government and on my own behalf, I heartily congratulate the entire Loughrea Community on a European Monetary Project of singular importance, executed to the highest professional standards by a dedicated group of determined local people dedicated to making a special and historic contribution to their town, their country and their fellow Europeans. We are all very proud of you.

Ladies and gentlemen, I once again welcome you all to Loughrea. I hope you benefit from this important conference, as business, trade organisations and the state sector work together to achieve the important task of changeover to euro for the mutual benefit of both Ireland and Europe.