Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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530. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the departmental spend on setting up Eircode; the original budget; the spend on ongoing maintenance costs since it was established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15337/16]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The cost to date for establishing the National Postcode System (NPS) is €21.205m (VAT inclusive) and is broken down in the following table:

There has been no spend to date in relation to on-going maintenance.  The maximum annual amount that is allocated for the on-going maintenance of the NPS is €1.2m.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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531. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if Eircode is compatible with global positioning system functionality; if not, the reason; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15338/16]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Eircode is compatible with Global Positioning System (GPS) functionality, as each Eircode provides a GPS location for each postal address. This allows Eircodes to be used with GPS enabled devices to accurately give directions and locate properties.

Contracts have been signed with satellite navigation companies and negotiations are ongoing with others. Google and Eircode are working together to bring Eircodes to Google Applications, including Google Maps shortly. TomTom have concluded their licence negotiations for Eircodes and are currently integrating the codes into their products.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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532. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason his Department did not adopt the national postcodes project board's recommendation in its final report for the adoption of a hierarchical code but adopted a non-sequential system instead; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15339/16]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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In 2006 the National Postcodes Project Board (NPPB) recommended that the optimum technical solution to be adopted for a national postcode was the 'Postal Sector Model'. This uses an 'ABC 123' structure to reference in the first instance the relevant Post Town, and secondly the 'Block Face' (a grouping of approximately 40 to 50 dwellings); it was, however,  recognised at that time that there were advantages in introducing a postcode based on a unique identifier. In 2010,  54 interested parties  were consulted as part of an extensive  consultation process on the introduction of postcodes. The consultation  exercise concluded that  for the postcode to be of real benefit it had to be unique to each address. Following consideration of the matter by Government in 2010, the Department proceeded to the first stage of procurement to launch a National Postcode System. The procurement documentation, having regard to the output from the stakeholder consultation process, envisaged that the postcode  model would be capable of being refined into a location based code – in other words of identifying each individual property within a post town.

The reason for the adoption of the unique identifier approach was to resolve two addressing challenges:

- 35% of addresses are non-unique which means  many properties, particularly in rural areas,  share the same address; and

- in both urban and rural areas, the same property can have multiple forms of address.

A hierarchical based code is not the optimum solution for Ireland as it does not have the capacity to uniquely identify premises nor  is it future proofed  as it is not possible to assign a sequenced code to new builds (for example any infill development will break the sequence of the code in the event that a sequenced code were used).

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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533. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on a recent survey carried out by a company (details supplied) which found that 96% of companies in the logistics business do not use Eircode; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15340/16]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I presume the Deputy is referring to the "CBRE Ireland Logistics & Supply Chain Confidence Index 2016" which includes a short analysis on the introduction and usage of Eircodes. In addition to the statistic referenced by the Deputy in his question, the report also notes that two thirds of the survey respondents said the introduction of the Eircode postcode system has been a positive development for the Irish Market, with 73% of shipping respondents and 64% of logistics & E-Commerce companies saying the introduction of Eircode has been a positive development.

Information available to my Department indicates that a significant number of commercial bodies have incorporated the Eircode into their online services, and this continues to grow. Since the launch, Capita, the Postcode Management Licence Holder (PMLH), has signed up a total of 28 Eircode Value Added Re-sellers who provide a broad spectrum of Eircode specialist services to businesses including, location based applications for logistics/deliveries sector, address validation, database cleansing, address look ups and a range of spatial analytic applications. These 28 VARs have signed licences with 399 End User organisations who are using Eircodes in their businesses. The industries using Eircode data include Retail, Logistics/Delivery, Financial Services, Insurance, Utilities and Public Sector bodies. Most of the Eircode licenced End Users are using the data for address verification and deliveries, as well as for risk assessment in Insurance and Financial Services.

The integration of Eircodes into the relevant business systems of individual firms is linked to their systems development lifecycle which can, in some cases, lead to a time lag before Eircodes are used by the business in their day-to-day operations and in their service offerings. The timing of the integration process is a matter for  individual businesses to take.

I am satisfied that once Eircodes are used in Google applications and Sat Navs, their usage will increase.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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534. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if the Loc8 code was considered for use with the Eircode autoaddress application in the introduction of two additional postcodes to be used with the application; if not, the reason; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15341/16]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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537. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if there is a role for other postcode applications alongside Eircode; and the basis upon which he decides to promote any such technology via his Department's website and Twitter account. [15347/16]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 534 and 537 together.

Since the Eircode launch, Capita, the Postcode Contractor, has signed up a total of 28 Eircode Value Added Re-sellers who provide a broad spectrum of Eircode specialist services to business including, location based applications for logistics/deliveries sector, address validation, database cleansing, address look ups and a range of spatial analytic applications. 

I understand that one of the Value Added Re-sellers recently launched a free to use Eircode  app for use on Apple and Android devices. This App is a useful way to find Eircodes, share precise address locations and get directions using the Eircodes.  

The development of  apps and products  by Value Added Re-sellers is a matter for the individual company.

Information in relation to new or innovative Eircode related services is placed on my Department's website in order to increase awareness and promote usage of Eircodes amongst the public.