6.—(1) The Central Bank Act, 1989 , is hereby amended by the substitution for section 24 (as amended by section 13 of the Central Bank Act, 1998 ) of the following:

"24.—By virtue of Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 May 1998 on the introduction of the euro, from the 1st day of January, 1999—

(a) the currency of the State is the euro, and

(b) the Irish pound unit (within the meaning of the Economic and Monetary Union Act, 1998 ) is a subdivision of the euro.".

(2) The Act of 1969 is hereby amended in section 2 by the substitution of the following for subsection (2):

"(2) The Irish pound and the penny shall be legal denominations or units of money in Irish currency.".