The Director of Consumer Affairs should receive funding to appoint a "Yell and Tell" consumer representative in each European Parliament constituency during the euro changeover period, according to a new report on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

The report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs recommends that such representatives be appointed for a modest fee on a freelance basis to protect consumers and guard against price increases.

The committee, which was established in November 1997, heard presentations on EMU from the Institute of European Affairs, the Central Bank, the Irish Bankers' Federation, the Director of Consumer Affairs and the European Commission.

It also recommends that the six-month period between January 1st and July 1st, 2002, during which the euro and the pound will exist alongside one another, be shortened. It says the six-month changeover period is too long and that the process could be completed in two months, between February 1st and March 31st for example.

"The longer the period, the greater the confusion for consumers and the greater the cost for retailers in dual pricing displays and dual tills," the report says.

The committee also says that introducing the euro on January 1st, in the middle of the post-Christmas sales, is a recipe for confusion and even chaos.

It suggests a date like February 1st would allow retailers and consumers to tackle the change in a less frenzied atmosphere. The committee also suggests that consideration be given to the creation of a national contingency fund into which part of future Budget surpluses be paid to provide for unforeseen events arising from EMU. Anticipated future surpluses should also be used to invest in new local authority housing and in infrastructure in such a way as to attract private partnership co-funding.

The committee requested that the issues raised in the report be the subject of a debate in both houses of the Oireachtas.