AN overwhelming majority of Irish firms believe Ireland will be in the first group to join a single currency, a new survey has found.

However, more than 60 per cent of businesses believe that the Government is not consulting enough with them on the EMU process.

Chambers of Commerce of Ireland (CCI) president Mr Tony Prendegast, whose organisation carried out the survey, yesterday called the Government to formulate a national plan, early next year, for the introduction of the euro "to ensure the potential benefits are fully maximised and potential costs minimised".

The survey, carried out in conjunction with AIB Corporate & Commercial Treasury, has found that more than 60 per cent of those questioned believe Ireland should join whether Britain joins or not.

Almost 90 per cent believe that Ireland will be part of the first grouping up from 60 per cent in a similar survey carried out last year.

Only 4 per cent believe Ireland will not be part of the first group well down on last year's 33 per cent.

The CCI survey find there is a "strong belief" that a single currency will benefit the Irish economy. However, since the last survey there has been a significant decrease in those who felt the single currency will be helpful to their own business falling from 68 per cent to 59 per cent.

Those who thought it would be unhelpful has risen from 4 per cent to 7 per cent.

The survey points out that a similar survey carried out by the British Chamber of commerce and the Confederation of British Industry has shown that there has been a significant rise in the number of businesses who feel the single currency will be unhelpful, rising from 10 per cent in 1995 to 34 per cent this year.

The CCI found that 54 per cent did not believe they knew enough to start planning for EMU.

The vast majority (per cent) have not assessed the cost to their businesses of transferring to a single currency.

"The Government must consult more and clarify the process," the CCI said.

The survey contains the results of a telephone survey of more than 350 of the top 1,000 companies in Ireland on their attitude to EMU. It purports to represent larger firms only.