A chara, - ┌na McCaffrey's report No sanction against profiting from euro change (July 19th), ably exposes why commercial enterprises generally have been so enthusiastic about the new euro currency. In this article the Director of Consumer Affairs, Carmel Foley, admitted her office had no legal powers to prevent businesses from raising prices in anticipation of the introduction of euro notes and coins next January.
While I have no doubt that Ms. Foley and her office will be characteristically vigilant and robust on consumers' behalf, it appears inevitable that the euro changeover will be preceded by significant price hikes. Indeed, Gareth Keenan's letter of the same day, regarding the "rounding up" of student charges, provided a timely example of the euro's likely impact.
This despite sustained reassurance from the EU and the Government that the introduction of the new currency would have no such effect. Those who reminded us of the commercial swindling that accompanied the decimalisation of the punt were reassured that this simply could not happen with the euro. Mind you, the EU also told us that the introduction of the euro would bring down interest rates, reduce inflation, and eliminate bank charges for the transfer of funds within the EU! These were the same people, moreover, that asserted that the euro's "strength" was assured, a factor which, we were told, would reduce the cost of holidaying outside the Eurozone. Not one of these assertions has proved true.
Am I alone in feeling duped? - Is mise, le meas,
Dr. Fergus Ryan, Department of Legal Studies, Dublin Institute of Technology, Aungier Street, Dublin 2.