Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 13 July 2022

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community

Logainmneacha na Gaeltachta: Plé (Atógáil)

Mr. Liam Irwin:

A Chathaoirligh, a Theachtaí agus a Sheanadóirí, gabhaim buíochas libh as ucht an gcuireadh buaileadh libh inniu. Má tá sé ceart go leor, tabharfaidh mé an ráiteas i mBéarla. Bhí mo chuid Gaeilge go han-mhaith uair amháin ach de bharr easpa cleachtaidh, níl sé chomh maith sin anois.

We are pleased to be here to explain the role and remit of An Post GeoDirectory DAC in providing geocoded addresses to the market, including to Eircode. In particular, we will address the issues surrounding the provision of this information for addresses in Gaeltacht areas. I am accompanied by Mr. Dara Keogh, chief executive officer of GeoDirectory, and we will both endeavour to address the committee's queries as best we can.

GeoDirectory DAC is a jointly owned subsidiary company of An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland, OSI. Its board consists of five directors. I am the board’s chairperson and Mr. Cyril McGrane, who is here representing An Post, is one of the co-directors. The primary role of GeoDirectory is to supply a geocoded postal buildings database to the market.

The GeoDirectory database is made up of approximately 2 million buildings and 2.3 million addresses. The 2.3 million addresses are made up of between 2.1 million residential addresses and 200,000 commercial addresses. The data is updated on an ongoing basis with a rolling update running throughout the calendar year from January to December. On average, we make about 500,000 changes to the data annually. We supply our main data product to the market four times a year, in January, April, July and October.

There are two address databases within GeoDirectory, namely a geographic address database and an official postal address database. Both of these address databases are in English and, where available, Irish. It is important to note that the GeoDirectory data is only ever a picture in time and historic in nature. We are always trying to keep up with new developments and address changes. While we endeavour to capture as many addresses as possible in Irish, this is not always possible. For example, when we visit a new housing development, addresses may not be fully assigned.

In GeoDirectory, we rely on the teams in An Post and OSI to capture, confirm and update the address information for both the Irish and English versions of address. An Post supplies address information and OSI provides boundary and official townland names. Our relationship with both of these bodies is critical to our success, and I acknowledge the very positive relationship we have with them.

Regarding the Irish-language version of an address, we use the Irish version as provided by Logainm.ie wherever possible. Logainm.ie is the expert in this field and has the understanding, skills, and experience to provide the best Irish translation. Our most recent update of Irish-language translated addresses was received from Logainm.ie in February 2022 and covers the 2020-21 period. This recent data will be included in the records throughout 2022. We anticipate that further updates will be received from Logainm.ie on an ongoing basis and these will be updated to the relevant address databases at the earliest possible time.

In parallel to the data supplied by Logainm.ie, our database is also continuously updated through information collected on an ongoing basis by An Post. This on-the-ground information is acquired through local knowledge, local road and area signage, contact with local authorities where required, and the reviewing of OSI townland names.

Looking specifically at Gaeltacht areas and using the Gaeltacht boundary set made available by OSI, GeoDirectory has 60,790 addresses in Gaeltacht areas. We have entries in our Irish table for all of those addresses. However, if any part of an address is not translated, it is provided in English, for example, when a business or house name is in English. We continue to work with all parties to increase and improve the quantity and quality of addresses as Gaeilge.

GeoDirectory provides these addresses to all our customers, including Eircode, and they decide which format and language is used to deliver their services. I must emphasise that the role of GeoDirectory is to provide as comprehensive as possible a database of all available address formats. Our company cannot and does not seek to influence the versions or features of address records that are used by the various service providers.

In summary, GeoDirectory has ongoing and robust data collection processes that include both Irish and English versions of addresses. Where possible, we use the official Irish names received from Logainm.ie and will continue to work with our partners to ensure we have the most up-to-date and comprehensive database of Irish addresses.