Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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294. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will confirm the result of any cost benefit analysis carried out by his Department on the rounding-up of prices, and change to the nearest 5 cent; whether the Government intends to eliminate the production of 1 cent and 2 cent coins; the timetable envisaged for this change; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37613/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Rounding of cash transactions has been rolled out from 28th October 2015. Participation in rounding is voluntary for retailers and consumers.  It is expected that the introduction of rounding will reduce the use of 1 cent and 2 cent coins. The production costs of 1c coins exceed their face value (unit cost of 1.65c), while the production costs of 2 cent coins is only slightly lower than their face value (unit cost of 1.94 cent). While no formal study has been done on the overall economy-wide cost of having 1 cent and 2 cent coins in widespread circulation, extrapolating from an international study suggests that they cost approximately €10m per annum when the costs of storing, transporting, counting and processing is included. The Central Bank has produced 2.5 billion of these coins since the launch of the euro, though these are taken out of circulation by consumers rather than being used in shops, indicating that consumer see them as little benefit in facilitating transactions. The Central Bank ran a trial of Rounding in Wexford in 2013 which showed strong support for Rounding, with 85% of consumers and 100% of retailers who expressed an opinion wanting it rolled-out nationally.

The Government does not intend to eliminate the production of 1c and 2c coins. These coins retain their legal tender status, a status which can only be changed at a eurozone level. The EU Commission reviewed the continued use of these coins in 2013 and set out a number of options given the cost of their production and the fact that EU consumers seem to hoard the coins rather than actually use them for transactions. However it was decided not to abolish these coins at a Eurozone level at this stage.