BellTIME
The Central Bank of Ireland -
YOUR CENTRAL BANK
Google “what is a central bank” and in
less than half a second, you’ll have
more than 71,100,000 results - what
seems to be a relatively simple
question has many and varied
responses. Since the financial crisis in
particular, central banks and their role
in the international financial system
has become a hot topic of
conversation.
Ireland’s own central bank came into
existence in 1943, though its roots
trace back to the foundation of the
state. Your Central Bank is a large
organisation with over 1,600 staff
working in 45 divisions across the core
functions of central banking,
prudential regulation, operations and
financial conduct.
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Our overall mission is to safeguard
stability and protect consumers.
Within that, we currently have the
broadest mandate among our
Eurosystem peers (the Eurosystem
comprises the European Central Bank
and the national central banks of
those countries that have adopted the
euro.) We work to achieve price
stability, as part of the Eurosystem;
the stability of the financial system;
and the proper and effective
regulation of financial service
providers and markets. We are also
charged with ensuring that the
conduct of financial service providers
is fair to consumers.
But what does this really mean?
It means:
That as a member of the Eurosystem,
we contribute to maintaining price
stability in the euro area. We do this
through targeting an inflation rate of
close to, but not exceeding 2 per cent.
We provide strong financial
regulation, supervision and
enforcement.
We analyse the financial system,
identify emerging risks and use sector-
wide tools to pre-empt and prevent
instability.
We provide reliable, robust, relevant
economic assessments, advice and
research.
We issue and manage the euro
currency in circulation in Ireland.
We set out codes of conduct for how
firms should treat consumers.