Converting Government levies into euros will work "in favour of the citizen", according to the Department of Finance.
The Euro Changeover Bill 2001, launched today, will allow for the conversion into euros of fees for birth and death certificates, application fees to An Bórd Planála and parking fines, among other Government charges.
Minister for Finance, Mr Charlie McCreevy said in statement today that the Bill, which is due to come into effect on January 1st 2002, would round-down converted fees.
"The Bill provides that the fee amounts be reduced to the nearest convenient euro amount, below the exact equivalent in Irish pounds so as to favour the citizen", he said.
Under EU regulations, Irish Government levies will be converted at a rate of 1 Euro = £0.787564. Mr McCreevy said it was "obvious" the conversion would not be smooth, as £100 = 126.97 Euro, and said cash payments would therefore be rounded-down.
The Bill will not affect tax or social welfare payments, which will be dealt with under the provisions of the Finance Bill 2001 and the Social Welfare Bill 2001 respectively.
Mr McCreevy said the Department intended for the euro changeover to be "as neutral as possible", adding "while the currency in which amounts are expressed will change, their value should not".