Central Bank of Ireland

Information

The Central Bank Reform Act 2010, which commenced on 1 October 2010, created a new single body called the Central Bank of Ireland which is responsible for both central banking and financial regulation. It replaced the previous related bodies – the Central Bank and the Financial Services Authority of Ireland (generally known as the Central Bank) and the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (Financial Regulator).

You can read about the Central Bank’s regulatory role in our document, Financial regulation.

The Central Bank is responsible for protecting the best interests of consumers of financial services. The National Consumer Agency (NCA) provides information to consumers on the costs, risks and benefits of different financial products.

The Bank is a member of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). The ESCB comprises the European Central Bank and the national central banks of the 17 states that have adopted the euro. The tasks of the ESCB include conducting foreign exchange operations for the Eurozone countries, managing official currency reserves within each country and promoting the smooth operating of financial institutions.

The Central Bank also:

• Contributes to Eurosystem effectiveness and price stability
• Provides independent economic advice and financial statistics (including information on mortgage arrears)
• Oversees payments systems and provides currency services (including the manufacture, and issue of bank notes and coins)