Eamonn Coghlan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am quite confused; perhaps more now than ever before. Mr. Delaney mentioned GPS, which cannot be reliable at all times. I was in the south west of Ireland last month looking for a particular location, but GPS was sending me in the wrong direction. I met a young man who works for An Post in Clifden and we were talking about the new Eircode system coming in. He said they will be depending on the postmen to clearly identify homes. I asked him what he meant and he gave the example that in a small area in Clifden on the same street, we have John and Mary Quinns at four separate addresses. I asked him how he knew which piece of mail was for a particular address and he said "Sure, after a while you kind of get to know their business and know which mail is for which address." I asked him how he knew which of four ESB bills was for each address. He said he did not but at least they go through.

Senator Barrett appears to be most concerned about the cost-benefit analysis and the €27 million or so that is going in. That is one particular issue. This particular issue is about trying to identify whether this is the best code. Mr. Delaney says it is not the best code. Capita says it is. The matter is with the Department. It has been passed and is going through the various stages of procurement. Addresses are not going to change. I will still live, to use my parents' address, at 110 Cooley Road, Drimnagh, Dublin 12. The Dublin 12 reference will not change and it might be D12XYZ. The next door neighbour might be 112 Cooley Road, D12XYB. Capita is telling us that this unique identifier in the last four digits is unique to each house. As far as I am concerned, this is fantastic as it will eliminate the Mary and John Quinn times four issue in one area. They will know that a particular Mary and John Quinn's unique identifier identifies their house. The emergency services are saying this will be good for them. An Post has said it will use it and there will be a cultural change in people's thinking about not using the address if they do not want to. In the United States of America, where I used to live, the Zip code in Rye, New York, was 10580. Philadelphia, 19085 is a locality that might have been three miles by three miles, but that code still does not identify an actual address on a particular street. Capita tells us that this unique code will. It is saying this is the first code in the world that will give us a unique identification. The reason the codes are not going to be sequential is that it might be 400 to 500 yards from one house to another today but someone might build a house between them once the system is in place. Therefore, they will have a unique four digit code at the end of it. If Capita is telling us this will work, why does Mr. Delaney say it will not and that it is not future proof?