One and two cent coins will be phased out from today as part of the Central Bank's Rounding in Ireland scheme.

From today, when consumers get change in cash it will be rounded up or down to the nearest five cent, to reduce the need for one and two cent coins.

The rounding scheme was successfully trialled in Wexford in 2013 which showed that 85% of consumers and all of the retailers surveyed wanted Rounding rolled out nationally.

It will be on a voluntary basis - one and two cent coins will remain legal tender.

Ronnie O’Toole of the Central Bank said the public are very much in favour of the idea.

“The reaction so far to rounding has been fantastic," he said.

"As a country we are good at making changes like this. We migrated to the euro ahead of most other countries, and the indications so far are that consumers and retailers alike will embrace rounding.”