THE Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, reporting yesterday to the European Parliament on the programme of the Irish presidency, urged MEPs to schedule a major debate on monetary union in the months before the Dublin summit in December when crucial decisions will be taken by EU leaders.

The Minister said there was a need to extend the debate into the public realm and to give it greater democratic legitimacy.

Mr Quinn covered much of the same aground as he had done on Monday at the meeting of EU finance ministers in outlining the Irish priorities. But he made a particular point of promising MEPs that he would be fully consulted in line with treaty provisions, on the formal decision which needed to be taken in Dublin that the single currency would not be introduced until 1999.

That decision has already been taken politically because it is clear that a majority of member states do not yet qualify under the Maastricht criteria, making an introduction in 1998 impossible. But the Parliament is determined that the treaty procedure which provides for it to be consulted on the decision is not bypassed.

Markets are also interested in the full procedure being followed in order to get an inkling of the degree of flexibility to be shown in interpreting the criteria in 1998 when the decision is actually taken one which countries will be the first participants.

But Mr Quinn and his colleagues have made clear that they do not yet intend to reveal their intentions on the issue or have it forced prematurely. Mr Quinn again insisted yesterday that the Dublin decision would be based on a report from the European Monetary Institute and the Commission. Observers expect the report to be minimalist in content.

Responding to questions, Mr Quinn said he strongly supported enlargement of, the Union but accepted that this posed huge problems for the Common Agriculture Policy and the single market. The process would be started in the early years of the next century, he believed, on the basis of long transition periods.

Mr Quinn backed the wish of the French, Finance Minister, Mr Jean Arthuis, to see final decisions on the design of euro notes and coinage made by ministers and not simply central bankers.