THE Department of Tourism and Trade has set up an EU currency Task Force to assess the effect of currency fluctuations on Irish companies. The task force will work under An Bord Trachtala. It will attempt to help companies obtain higher margins on their exports and will be modelled on the Sterling Task Force set up last year.

Ireland is very vulnerable to exchange rate fluctuations, The Minister, Mr Kenny, said. "This is why the Government is so committed to becoming a founder member of monetary union," he added.

I However, he stressed the Government's ability to influence exchange rates in favour of particular sectors is extremely limited.

"The primary responsibility for dealing with currency fluctuations rests with firms themselves," he said. "In the long term the only answer is to be as flexible and competitive as possible."

However, he added, firms must realise that there are, "swings and roundabouts". He pointed out that in the years before 1995 the pound depreciated significantly against the deutschmark. "The firms who are, experiencing difficulties now enjoyed very favourable, trading conditions in those years.

Mr Kenny said around 15 monetary unions roadshows are being planned.