€434m in old Irish money is missing, says Central Bank

AS the euro approaches its first birthday, €434 million worth of old Irish currency is still missing.

The Central Bank expects much of the 'mattress money' to turn up over the coming months. Up to 200 people still visit the Central Bank each day to convert Irish currency to euro.

"We have allocated extra staff to deal with the numbers. Most of the tellers are working on almost nothing else at the moment," said Central Bank spokesperson Neil Whoriskey.

Bank account holders can convert Irish notes to euro until the end of December at local branches while Irish notes and coins will be accepted indefinitely by the Central Bank.

When the Central Bank prepared for the euro conversion process last year, it assumed that 5% of all notes in circulation some 240 million would never come back. "A lot of notes would be destroyed in washing machines or lost," said Mr Whoriskey. The Central Bank held this sum of €240m in reserve. It was paid out in advance to Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy, who used it in last year's budget.

That still leaves €194m of Irish currency that should yet turn up, including €130m in coins. There are several possible explanations for the whereabouts of this money.

Many of the coins may be stuck under sofas, car seats and in penny jars. Some notes, obtained from robberies, may have been buried and forgotten by criminals.

The Department of Finance believes significant amounts of Irish currency may have left the country in people's pockets.

The vast inflow and outflow of tourists and emigrants means millions of pounds of Irish notes and coins may be scattered abroad.

Irish coins were internationally renowned for their distinctive drawings of bulls, fish and deer and the Central Bank believes some people may have kept them for sentimental value.

"However, that would add up to about 7m of coins at most. Otherwise, everyone is holding on to about €30 worth of coins each, which would be ridiculous," said Mr Whoriskey. He added the bank expects to eventually recover all but €60m of the missing money.

Yesterday, the Central Bank also launched its 2003 set of Euro coins. The bank has produced 30,000 sets in association with the heritage service Dúchas. Each coin set, retailing at €20, features the Casino, in Marino Co Dublin, a neo-classical building dating from the 18th century.