Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 87: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will publish details of the cost benefit analysis on the introduction of post codes; the initial cost and the ongoing cost of this project; the amount of this which will be financed by the taxpayer; when he expects to bring a further proposal to Cabinet in relation to the introduction of postcodes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43617/08]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Following the Government decision in May 2007 that further evidence and evaluation was required of the monetary benefits that would arise from the implementation of a national postcode, my Department recruited consultants to assist with an additional study on the costs and benefits of the postcode system, as they would relate to the public sector. The consultants have recently submitted their report to my Department.

The report is currently being assessed by my officials with a view to progressing the project and when complete, I will make a decision on how best to take the proposal forward. In this regard I fully accept that a postcode system can deliver economic and social benefits, assist with the future development of competition in the postal sector and assist with the efficient, effective and innovative delivery of certain public services. It is therefore my intention to bring a further proposal to Government in relation to the introduction of postcodes.

The National Postcode Project Board, in presenting its report on a national postcode system in July 2006, estimated that the cost of implementing and promoting a national postcode system would require approximately €15 million of Exchequer funding. There has been no significant revision of this figure in the new report, although the eventual cost cannot be determined until a licence holder, who will be responsible for developing, communicating and maintaining the postcode system, has been selected through a competitive process.

The annual maintenance costs for the postcode management licence holder have been estimated as amounting to approximately €2.5m and it is expected that those ongoing costs will be met by income generated by the eventual licence holder. The recent supplemental report on postcodes found that significant financial benefits would accrue in the public sector if the proposed national postcode is introduced. The financial benefits identified in the public bodies consulted amounted to approximately €22m in net present value terms and the report also finds that there is likely to be a range of benefits, which public sector bodies cannot at this stage quantify but concludes that there is still a strong basis for a national postcode in Ireland.