Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If it was just about the guidance to a location, we could have dealt with that through getting an education system in place that would encourage people to record their co-ordinates. There is already a grid system in place that identifies one's co-ordinates, which is guided through the GPS system.

Throughout the world, the real purpose of a postcode - we call it an Eircode postcode - is to facilitate, in the first instance, the distribution of post and now, more particularly, packages. People knew and understood the old system of the posting and arrival of a letter; the postman knew his way around. The marketplace has changed very significantly, which is good. It is good competition and business for An Post. Other providers seek, however, to use a clustering methodology for efficient distribution. We talk about online trading, online vouchers and encouraging more people to get into the business of trading online. While online trading is carried out in an electronic environment, the flip side of it is a physical edifice which requires somebody to take the package and deliver it to the door. If one deals with and talks to logistics companies, they must have a method of aggregating packages to locations and then breaking them down further in order that their transportation is used efficiently. The Minister will be aware from our renewables targets of a necessity to reduce transport emissions. This requires good IT systems but, unfortunately, Eircode's IT system does not provide that level of usability. I encourage Deputy Naughten, as Minister, to reconsider what Eircode needs to do, what its full purpose is and whether it is fit for that purpose. There is a need for a hierarchical dimension to it.

I understand the notion of fill-in addresses and houses built along the way but when Deputy Ryan was Minister, his expert group recommended a hierarchical dimension to the Eircode postcode. This was dropped along the way for whatever reason, and we all have our own views as to why that might have happened, but I think it has contributed to the lack of take-up. I understand that not everybody will know their Eircode postcode by heart but, over time, when the demand increases, when people start looking for it and when one purchases something online, if it is a requirement to enter one's Eircode, if it is being used by the ultimate distributor, then there will be greater uptake of it. This will have a knock-on effect of people memorising it more and it being more beneficial in the event of an emergency. This is just a request to the Minister. I do not expect him to have the solution at once.