Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

GeoDirectory is a subsidiary of An Post. As I said, An Post has to give both the English and the Irish address for its own sorting reasons. That is given to Capita and then it is up to anyone to get the address through the Eircode finder. If someone in a Gaeltacht area looks up their address, the default position is that they will be given the Irish address.

To go back to an important point the Deputy made about logainm.ieand the experts in GeoDirectory, there is a commitment and ongoing engagement with regard to discrepancies. The Department does not want any discrepancies in this area. There are regular updates and we are in constant contact with An Post, OSI and GeoDirectory in order to improve the system and make sure it is maintained. This has been ongoing. It is in the Department’s interests that we engage with the likes of this committee and hear feedback on this matter. This contract ends in December 2023 and the Department is reviewing the arrangements around a new contract and what that could entail. That is why it is important that we engage with all stakeholders, including this committee. Work is also being done around the dissemination of Eircodes and making that interval shorter. The Deputy can be assured that the Department is meeting the requirements of the language scheme. We are open to ensuring that this is working. The fundamental point in relation to the Coimisinéir Teanga was around having the English address and the Irish address being provided by An Post.

When the Department went to An Post about removing the English version, An Post said it could not do that for sorting purposes in the mail offices because it needs to be able to match a particular address to both the English and the Irish in order for it to be delivered in the context of its next-day delivery obligations under ComReg. That was the response from An Post and that was the issue raised by an Coimisinéir Teanga. It was a new issue that the Department sought to rectify but, unfortunately, An Post is not in a position to do that because it needs to live up to its next-day delivery obligations.