Most Irish retailers are ready for the changeover to the euro currency on January 1st, the Government claimed today.
Minister of State Mr Tom Kitt disclosed the results of a nationwide survey that found 96 per cent of shops were getting their conversion sums correct and 85 per cent of staff had a working knowledge of the euro.
With just over a month before the punt is replaced by the euro, the Government is anxious to ensure the switch goes smoothly and that businesses will not take advantage of confused customers and overprice goods.
Accompanied by the director of consumer affairs, Ms Carmel Foley, Mr Kitt said today: "It should be of great comfort to customers to know that where retailers are showing the price in punts and euros they are, in the vast majority of cases, doing the conversion correctly.
"The level of correct dual pricing is even higher at 98 per cent on till receipts and invoices, and this is very important given that consumers can retain these and use them as points of reference," he said at St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, Dublin.
Mr Kitt praised retail workers, with more than four-fifths demonstrating in the survey that they would be able to cope with the new currency.
But the Minister called on more businesses who had signed up to the codes of practice to display the special code logo at their premises, providing extra comfort to customers.
Some 19 inspectors from the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs surveyed 1,849 businesses in each of the Republic's 26 counties.
PA