Decision soon on whether to eliminate use of 1c and 2c coins

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan is expected to decide shortly on whether to introduce a national voluntary "rounding" scheme to eliminate the use of 1 cent and 2 cent coins.

Mr Noonan told Fianna Fáil's Michael McGrath that his department was considering the recommendation of the Central Bank that a voluntary rounding scheme be introduced.

Each 1 cent coin costs 1.7 cent to produce, while the 2 cent coin also costs more than its face value to make. The Central Bank has spent more than €30 million on the production of the two types of coin since 2002.

Last year, the Central Bank ran a trial in Wexford town for two months, when transactions were rounded to the nearest 5 cent of the total cost at the till.