Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

No, in fairness, I know the Deputy is a glass-half-full man but there is nothing wrong. This has undergone very careful scrutiny right the way through. In fact, it is late. We ought to have done it before now. In its first year in office the Government could not do it because it did not have the money. It ought to have been done seven or eight years ago and it certainly must be done now because of the scale of the digital economy here. The digital economy is growing at a rate of approximately 16% per annum or eight times the rate of general economic growth. The digital economy and the demand for a postcode system is accelerating all of the time.

The inclusion of a turnover threshold is standard procedure in public procurement. It is very important that the company selected after a fair, transparent and open tendering process, has the financial capacity to do the business. If it was discovered halfway through the process that the company selected did not have the financial capacity and the process broke down, there would be a further inevitable, prolonged delay. The one thing this country cannot now take is a further prolonged delay.

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