One and two cent coins to be phased out of circulation

The Government is set to remove one and two cent coins from circulation following a successful trial in Wexford last year.

Five European Union members states have already opted to get rid of the coins - which cost more to mint than they are worth.

The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Hungary have already taken the plunge, while Belgium is currently in the process of adopting it.

The Irish Independent reports today that the government is now ready to roll out a scheme nationally following the Wexford trial.

It found that 85% of consumers who participated were in favour of extending it nationwide.

The National Payments Plan (NPP) trial was run from September 16 to November 17, 2013, with the aim of reducing the need for coins.

During the rounding scheme, retailers rounded prices to the nearest five cent at the cash register removing the need for smaller change.

The Central Bank recommended the rollout of the voluntary scheme aimed at getting rid of one and two cent coins last year.

The Central Bank says it mints more of these small denomination coins than any others, but they go out of circulation quickly because of stockpiling and shops constantly need fresh supplies for change.

While the direct average cost of producing these coins exceeds their face value - with a one cent coin costing approximately 1.3c to mint - there are significant other economic costs associated with the transport and storage of these coins in the economy.

Meanwhile, a nationwide campaign to see Irish charities benefit from the phasing out of these coins is gaining momentum.

'Change for Charity' has been in place since last October encouraging people all over the country to donate their unwanted one cent and two cent coins to help support a number of Irish charities. The campaign has over 3000 collection receptacles all over the country in schools, shops and banks.

Every AIB and Bankof Ireland branch has a receptacle so on this occasion banks actually will accept your unwanted coins - all you have to do is drop them into the large collection receptacles at any stage during bank opening hours, there is no staff assistance required for this service.

There are an estimated €35M of these coins in people’s homes and offices in bottles and jars, which will soon be of no use to anyone. So the Change For Charity campaign is encouraging people to get these coins to a collection point near them sooner rather than later.