Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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11. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the position regarding the roll-out of the Eircode postcode system. [40393/14]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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Since the contract to deliver the project was signed with Capita in December 2013, considerable progress has been made. The design for the National Postcode System was approved by Government and the brand ‘Eircode’ was launched for the National Postcode System in April 2014. Capita launched the website earlier this year. Over the last number of months, Capita have engaged with a number of private and public stakeholders to brief them on the project and prepare them for the launch of Eircodes next year. Overall the response to the project has been very positive. In order to support dissemination of Eircodes, the databases of large public sector bodies are being Eircode enabled. This work is expected to conclude by December which means that public sector bodies with large customer facing databases will be in a position to immediately use the codes on launch.An extensive public information campaign will commence early next year to inform the public about Eircodes and promote their usage. This will include outreach activities to ensure the public and especially the vulnerable and hard to reach obtain information on Eircodes in a timely manner. Eircodes are expected to be launched in the second quarter of next year when every household and business in the country will receive a letter containing their Eircode.

The necessary protections will operate around the use of Eircodes to ensure that data protection legislation is complied with. Holders of personal data are bound by Data Protection legislation in how they store and use this data, and the introduction of Eircodes will not alter this obligation

The cost to the Exchequer of the National Postcode System over the 10 year cycle of the contract is expected to be €26m excluding VAT with costs covering design, database upgrades, media and postcode distribution.