Mr. Mark Griffin:

As I understand it, the NAS was engaged, in any event, in an upgrade of its dispatch facility and information systems. We have been in contact with the NAS since the Eircode design was put in place, discussing with them the utility of Eircode in providing an additional mechanism by which the ambulance service could identify a property and dispatch an ambulance to that location. What we are looking at here is the use of Eircodes, primarily, I would imagine, in rural areas. In terms of the centralisation of ambulance services on a regional or sub regional basis in some parts of the country, it makes eminent sense to me that being able to integrate a code that can identify each and every individual property in the State into the computer-aided dispatch system of the NAS adds potentially significant value to the service and their ability to respond quickly to incidents in a residence or a property.