Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Speculation is rife but I am not sure it is correct.

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Alex White. I thank Senator Mary White for giving me the opportunity to address the Seanad on this matter. The Minister was delighted to launch Eircode, the new national postcode system for Ireland, this summer. Ireland is the first country in the world to have a unique identifier for all properties in the State. Unlike other countries, where postcodes define clusters or groups of addresses, an Eircode identifies an individual address, rural or urban, and shows exactly where that property is located. The postcode contractor, Capita, with assistance from the postmen and postwomen from An Post successfully delivered a letter to all 2.2 million residential and business addresses notifying them of their Eircode throughout Ireland during July of this year. Another exciting development during the launch was the new online Eircode finder tool on the website www.eircode.ie. The Eircode finder, is an Eircode look-up application that helps citizens and businesses to look up or check Eircodes using a smartphone or a computer.

The most comprehensive address database available in the country is the postal address database which is owned by GeoDirectory, a subsidiary company of An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland. The GeoDirectory database is provided under licence by An Post GeoDirectory, APG, to Eircode. The GeoDirectory database was used because it is the sole authoritative database in the State for all postal addresses.

It is very important to note that with the introduction of Eircodes, addresses are not changing and people do not need to change the address that they normally use. The addresses displayed on the Eircode finder and on the letters that were sent out to every address in the country are postal addresses as used by An Post. These were used to ensure accurate and efficient delivery of the Eircode notification letters and may have differed from the property's geographical address. Some postal addresses include a post town and county that are different from the geographical county of the address. Whether constituents choose to use the postal address or another form of address, such as the geographical address, the Eircode for the property does not change.

The Eircode is structured so that the first three digits which refer to a routing key are aligned with An Post delivery districts. This is to ensure that the codes are compatible with An Post mailing systems. In order to ensure that An Post can deliver mail, it is not possible to allow constituents to change their Eircode as this would present problems for An Post. This situation has always applied in relation to Dublin postal districts where the Dublin postcode, once assigned, could not be changed by An Post. The same principle applies to the national system of postcodes. It is not possible to change an Eircode but constituents are entitled to use whatever form of address they normally use along with the Eircode.

There are many variations of addresses used in rural Ireland but these occur even in urban areas. The Eircode address database contains a number of alias addresses for each postal address. If members of the public feel that their postal address is incorrect they may wish to inform An Post. An Post will investigate the matter and if it decides to amend the address it will update its central database. Eircode will update its database every three months to reflect the quarterly source data updates it receives from An Post GeoDirectory.What the reply is really saying is that in terms of the address at which I reside - I am sure it is the same for the Senator because we both live in urban areas and know that even in such areas addresses can differ - there are, for example, three different places named Fairhill in Cork and all of them are located within a small geographic area. One's postman and postwoman will know which is the correct on in terms of delivery. I have two separate addresses and I can use either one because they relate to the same location. What the reply is saying is that Eircode is the single identifier, even though one's address might vary from time to time. The single identifier relates to the system used by An Post. I know a little bit about the matter because my daughter happens to be a postwoman. The machinery identifies it and that is the key part. I understand how the matter can be confusing for people, especially those who live in rural areas where, for example, there can be different townlands, parishes, etc. The measure is most definitely designed to ensure that An Post gets it right rather than to cater for what an individual or property owner needs.