In just 346 days, with the introduction of the European single currency, Irish consumers will have to learn a new "financial language", the Minister for Labour, Trade and Consumer Affairs, Mr Kitt, said.
Speaking at the publication yesterday of three new guides on consumers' rights in Europe, part of the "Citizen First, Part Two" campaign, Mr Kitt said 1998 would see vital decisions being made about Ireland's membership of the single currency, beginning a process that will see the end of the pound and the arrival of the euro.
"It is hard to believe that more than three-quarters of the Irish people feel badly informed about the euro but over half are in favour of it anyway," he said.
These apparently contradictory opinions were fairly typical of attitudes to the greatest European issue since Ireland joined the Community in 1973, he said. Those people old enough to remember the confusion in 1971 when Ireland decimalised would have some idea of what was in store.
While the business community, banks and money markets were gearing themselves for the forthcoming changes, there was also a need for the consumer to be kept up to date in the preparations for 1999 and beyond. Nobody underestimated the challenges in the countdown to the euro.
It was time for consumers to take note of the euro. Most human beings were by their nature resistant to change. While EU and national legislation was important in bringing about change, consumer behaviour must be taken into account. The task of bringing consumers along with a new era was not going to be easy.
"A lot of symbols and cultural references will have to be set aside," Mr Kitt said. "It is very important that consumers get used to thinking in euros to avoid mass confusion in the changeover period."
An area of great concern to consumers was that they would be "ripped off" by price rises on the introduction of the new currency. The Minister said he was confident this would not be the case. However, consumers needed to be vigilant and armed with the necessary information. The onus would be on businesses to do everything possible to show themselves fit for the euro if they wanted to gain and keep customers.
Mr Kitt said he planned to convene a major forum in Dublin after the referendum on the Amsterdam Treaty was, hopefully, carried.