There will be benefits and considerable costs to introduce a single currency for Europe.
The introduction of a single European currency in just over four years is to come at a cost of millions.
The agreed deadline from Brussels for the introduction of the common currency is 1999.
Everything from supermarket cash registers to parking metres will have to be changed and this comes at a cost. Banks estimate the transition to the new currency will cost over £100 million. Some say the overall price could be as high as half a billion pounds.
Dominic Sutton, of the employers' group IBEC, says that ultimately individuals will have to pay for the switch to the new currency.
Britain has not yet decided if it will join the common currency.
To date, there is no agreement about what the new currency for Europe will be called.
The suggestions vary from the Francan to the Crown but no matter what it's called, the changeover is going to cost the consumer money.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 7 September 1995. The reporter is Michael Lally.
