Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

The amendment submitted by the Deputy would require the Minister to have regard to the position of the Irish language as the national language in the operation of any national postcode system.

While I am sympathetic to the aims of the proposal I do not propose to accept it on a number of grounds. The first is that a procurement process is currently under way for a national postcode system. That procurement is designed to produce a technical specification and an implementation plan for a national postcode system. The issue of what that specification will be and how it will take effect in an operating postcode will be determined through that competition. The issue of memorability or placename recognition by the general public will be an important consideration in any final recommendation to Government. The Government will take a view on the proposals emerging from the procurement process before committing to a postcode roll-out process. The language issue will be dealt with as part of the procurement but it is neither necessary nor appropriate to set language related conditions on the process at this stage.

My Department has published a notice seeking candidates to implement a national postcode system. That notice states that the conclusions and recommendations of the National Postcodes Project Board should be the basis of the implementation but that innovation with regard to the incorporation of the unique identification of properties should be investigated.

Although the procurement is being managed by my Department on a ring-fenced basis, any final go-ahead will require Government approval.

In making a final decision on the project the Government will consider a variety of issues, including financial, operational and technical issues. The position of the national language will form part of this consideration.

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