Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

Yes, the famous Dublin 4. I live in Dublin 17. Is it not the case that those postcodes have been used repeatedly, especially in the property market to categorise areas and people most unfairly? If it were possible for us to have a postcode which was just as private as our credit card number, as the broadcaster Pat Kenny said recently, should we not do that and use the technology we have rather than return to an older technology which has all kinds of implications?

I note that the report does not comment on issues of privacy and the socio-economic categorisation of the population. It did not even investigate those areas. Is this something which the Minister and his project team should reconsider before spending perhaps tens of millions of euro on what may turn out to be a madcap scheme?

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