One and two cent coins ‘a weight we don’t need’

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin has described one and two cent coins as "a weight in our pockets that we don't need".

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan will recommend to Cabinet on Tuesday the withdrawal of one and two cent coins following the success of a pilot project in Wexford, Mr Howlin's constituency.

“Rounding up and down the change, I think it’s a good idea. For most people I think most of us throw the one cents at least into a jar and dispose of it at the end. So I think it’s a weight in our pockets that we don’t need,” Mr Howlin said.

He said he had heard no complaints about the pilot scheme in Wexford.

“I talked to supermarkets, I talked to small shops. Most people thought it was a great idea...people embraced it.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has confirmed Cabinet would discuss the proposal.

"I think it's probably right to round up and round down," Mr Kenny said, when asked for his view on the proposal.

They were speaking on their way into the Cabinet meeting.

Mr Noonan has received a report from the Central Bank’s National Payments Plan recommending the roll out nationally of the rounding project so as to reduce the need for one and two cent coins.

The recommendation comes following the overwhelming success of a nine-week project in Wexford in 2013 where transactions were rounded up or down to the nearest five cent.