Mr. Liam Duggan:

I will deal with the emergency services first, if the Chairman does not mind. The comments did not come from the emergency service operators but from a trade body that represented some of the employees in the emergency services. We have met, for instance, the Health Service Executive's ambulance service personnel who are totally supportive. They have issued a statement of support. They do find it of benefit, understand how it works and will use it.

The majority of calls for emergency services come from addresses. I do not have the percentage of calls, but the majority are from addresses, not the roadside and hills. There is not a postcode system in the world that provides a solution to the problem of accidents occuring by the side of a road and a postal system is not a suitable place to start. It is not designed to suit all purposes; it is certainly not designed for that purpose. The car industry is working on a solution to that problem in that it is building in GPS devices. Where a car is involved in an accident in the air bag is activated, it will send a location signal to the local emergency services identifying the GPS co-ordinates. A postcode system was never designed for that purpose.