IBM Ireland has received thousands of global queries to its euro support centre since it opened last month. Most of the calls originate in the US and Asia where people are concerned about the impact on trade with Europe during and after the euro transition period.

The sources of the calls have come as a surprise to IBM which expected a more European-based response to the service. Some 32 per cent of the queries originated in the US and a further 40 per cent originated outside of Europe.

Queries are handled via telephone, email, Internet and fax in five languages: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.