Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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197. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in respect of the contract entered into with Capita for the development of a system of postcodes, if he will disclose the details specified in section 66(3) of to the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12280/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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Section 66 (3) of the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011 provides for the terms and conditions relating to the development, implementation and maintenance of the national postcode system and in particular the following:

(a) The conditions subject to which the Eircodes will be made available. Organisations that plan to use Eircodes can buy a user licence whereby they pay a licence for each user in an organisation. Alternatively, they can buy a transaction licence, where they pay per transaction. The pricing structure is now available on the Eircode website

(b) the conditions relating to the protection of intellectual property rights. The contract referred to in subsection (2) of the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011, was signed with Capita Business Support Services Ireland in December 2013, to develop, implement and maintain the National Postcode System for an initial 10 year period, extendable at the discretion of the Minister for Communications by a further five years. While the contract entered into with Capita for a National Postcode System is commercially sensitive, I can confirm that the State retains ownership of the Eircodes intellectual property rights.

(c) the conditions, including the making of charges, subject to which the Eircodes will be made available to any person who may wish to use it. Eircodes will be made available to the public through a free online Eircode look-up website and mobile application using GPS in smartphones to search for existing addresses and Eircodes. The free of charge Eircode look-up website will allow 15 look-ups per day to an individual.