Consumers have been warned to be vigilant over the coming weeks in dealing with the new euro currency to prevent being overcharged for goods and services.
The Minister for Consumer Affairs, Mr Tom Kitt TD promised today that official inspectors would be making regular checks of retailers to ensure they have converted punt prices into euro figures fairly.
He said the inspectors, from the office of the Director of Consumer Affairs, Ms Carmel Foley, would make sure the public "get a fair deal at all times".
"In our experience most errors arising so far have been genuine and inadvertent," Mr Kitt said. Consumers should try to sort out their complaints with shopkeepers initially, but if they were unhappy with the response, they should contact the Director of Consumer Affairs, the Minister said.
Ms Foley added that thousands of retailers throughout the country had now signed up to the Euro Changeover Code and received a logo to display in their shop windows.
"However, where retailers are not honouring this commitment, I will have no hesitation in publicly withdrawing the logo so that consumers can make up thier own mind where to shop in the future," she said.