The Central Bank is set to install a cashless payment system in its new Docklands headquarters on Dublin's North Wall Quay.

The system will be in place in restaurants and shops located within the HQ, stopping staff from using notes and coins on their purchases.

It will be required to handle as many as 50 users at a time and over 2,000 active users total.

The move is in keeping with the financial institution's campaign to turn Ireland into a completely cashless society.

The national campaign was launched in early 2014, with the Central Bank claiming that increased electronic payments would save the Irish €1 billion annually.

It immediately set itself up for a tough battle, with Irish people using cash far more than other European citizens (the value of our ATM withdrawals are 66% higher) and being the second biggest users of cheques in the EU.

The Central Bank already operates a cashless system at four of its offices. Employees from three of these will be moved into the new HQ by December.

The bank has no intention of retaining its Spencer Dock building, which it bought for €104 million last September.

Following the European Central Bank's decision to abolish the €500 note last week, there was strong criticism, particularly in Germany, that the move was a major step in phasing out paper money in the Eurozone.

Executive ECB board member Yves Mersch was forced to dispute these claims, reassuring German savers in Der Spiegel that extra precautions would be taken "to ensure the supply of cash remains the same".