Majority of Irish people support abolishing 1c and 2c coins
70% of Irish people are in favour of getting rid of the two smaller denominations of the euro.
Support for the abolition of 1c and 2c coins is growing in Ireland with 7 out of 10 consumers now in favour of doing away with the smaller value euro coins.
A new survey conducted on behalf of the European Commission reveals that two-thirds of all citizens in the euro-area support the idea of withdrawing 1c and 2c coins from circulation and applying mandatory rounding of prices for goods and services.
The results show 70% of Irish people are in favour of getting rid of the two smaller denominations of the euro — up five percentage points since a similar survey was conducted in 2022.
It is the 7th highest level of support for reducing the number of euro coin types and above the euro-area average of 66%.
Support for the abolition of 1c and 2c coins ranges from 55% in Spain to 86% in Slovakia.
The very young and the very old were the age groups most in favour of removing the smaller-value coins from circulation.
It is estimated there are over 1.1 billion 1c coins in circulation in Ireland as well as almost 824 million 2c coins.
The Central Bank of Ireland has stated that 1c and 2c coins cost more to mint than their face value.
No new coins for the two smallest denominations have been produced in recent years since the introduction of rounding up and down to the nearest 5c for cash transactions in 2015 which led to a surplus of 1c and 2c coins.
Over 126 million unwanted coins were returned at the time.
The 1c and 2c coins remain legal tender and the Central Bank of Ireland has stated that it has no plans to remove them.
However, many retailers now use self-service checkout machines which no longer accept the two smaller euro coins.
Almost 19,000 adults across the 20 EU member states whose currency is the euro were surveyed on their attitude to the currency including over 1,000 in Ireland.
The research found that support for the euro remains high with 79% of all respondents claiming the euro is a good thing for the EU.
It also revealed that 81% of those surveyed in Ireland said the euro had been a good thing for Ireland — the 4th highest level of support in the euro-area.
Only 3% of people in Ireland said the euro had been a bad thing for their country — the lowest figure in any of the 20 euro-area member states.
The survey showed that 55% of Irish people said the euro personally made them feel more European — the highest rate and well above the average of 30%.
A majority of respondents support the euro in all 20 euro-area countries.
However, the figure was just 51% in the euro-area’s newest member, Croatia, which adopted the currency at the start of 2023.
The survey showed that a large proportion of Croatians believe it has had a major impact on the cost of living with 72% claiming all prices have risen since its introduction in January.
In Ireland, 3% of respondents said they still tend to convert from the price in euro to the former punt (Irish pound) when buying things on a daily basis.
A large majority of Irish people claim the euro has made price comparisons with other EU countries easier as well as doing business and travelling.
