Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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307. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cost of upgrading information technology systems and or databases to incorporate the use of Eircode; if the use of Eircode is mandatory in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8638/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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My Department undertook a business study in 2015 to ascertain what the ICT implications of introducing the Eircode would be and this cost €5,701.56 (excluding VAT).

The cost of the contract for the ICT work to implement Eircodes was €298,890 inclusive of VAT. The project was completed on time and within budget.

Furthermore, my Department has the Eircode Address Database (ECAD) service to provide ongoing validation of postcodes with addresses. The ECAD provides access to geocodes as it is correlated directly with GeoDirectory X Y co-ordinates. My Department expects this to be particularly useful for future ICT projects.

The use of Eircodes is not mandatory in my Department, although they are collected for consistent and accurate recording of address details.