Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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177. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the secondary uses for Eircode that have been formally considered and deemed appropriate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23567/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Capita Business Support Services Ireland, trading as Eircode, was awarded a 10 year contract in December 2013 to develop, implement, maintain and promote the use of the National Postcode System "Eircode".

Since the launch of Eircodes in July 2015, their usage, as part of an address, continues to grow and Eircodes are used widely among the public, businesses and public sector. This, in part, can be seen by use of the free Eircode Finder website. There have been over 69.7 million lookups on the Finder since launch in 2015, with 2.3 million lookups in April 2020 which is a 55% increase on the previous April. During 2019 there were over 18 million free look-ups on the Finder, an increase of 27% on the previous year.

In 2017 an independent nationally representative face-to-face survey conducted by Amárach Research showed 84% of respondents were able to supply a validated Eircode for their address. Other independent research carried out on behalf of Eircode by Amárach Research in 2018 and 2019 showed that 96% and 99% respectively of the Irish public are aware of Eircodes.

Eircode have informed my Department that to-date there are over 1,390 business organisations and state agencies who are licensing Eircodes within their business systems and operations across a wide spectrum of sectors, including logistics/deliveries, emergency services, utilities, hotel, retail, telecommunications, Insurance, financial, food deliveries, service engineers and property management. There are many more businesses using the free Eircode Finder in their day-to-day business operations.

Eircode has licensed 37 approved Eircode Providers who resell Eircode database and products incorporating Eircodes. Many of these Eircode Providers are Irish SME’s and international companies developing business solutions and apps utilising Eircodes for their customers across a wide spectrum of business categories.

Google have integrated Eircodes into Google Maps and other leading satnav providers such as TomTom, Garmin, HERE Navigation and Microsoft have also integrated Eircodes into their satnav apps for use by consumers and businesses.

The National Ambulance Service (NAS) have integrated Eircodes into their dispatch system which means that the patient’s address and the position of the nearest available ambulance can be accurately pinpointed, using the Eircode, on a digital map, enabling an ambulance to be quickly and accurately routed to someone in need of medical help. NAS continue to install their ambulances across the country with Digital Mobile Data Systems that allows responding crews to have the call details sent to their Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) screens together with the Eircode and visual location data in map format to assist with ambulance arrival at the correct location. NAS actively encourage people who are seeking an emergency ambulance to have their Eircode available to pass it on to the call taker.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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178. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to facilitate greater cooperation between Eircode and the Loc8 code in the interest of public safety in view of the fact that Loc8 has been used by the National Ambulance Service since 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23568/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Capita Business Support Services Ireland, trading as Eircode, was awarded a 10 year contract in December 2013 to develop, implement, maintain and promote the use of the National Postcode System "Eircode".

Shortly after the launch of Eircode, the National Ambulance Service (NAS) integrated Eircodes into their Computer Aided Dispatch system which means that the patient’s address and the position of the nearest available ambulance can be accurately pinpointed, using the Eircode, on a Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI) digital map, enabling an ambulance to be quickly and accurately routed to someone in need of medical help.

The NAS continue to install their ambulances vehicles with Digital Mobile Data Systems that allows responding crews to have the call details sent to their MDT Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) screens together with the Eircode and visual location data in an OSI map format to assist with ambulance arrival at the correct location. The inclusion of Eircode in the text alert from NAS to the Cardiac First Responders (CFR) greatly assists the CFR to respond directly by the fastest route and the NAS actively encourage people who are seeking an emergency ambulance to have their Eircode available to pass it on to the call taker.

More broadly, the Deputy might be interested to know that in October 2017 a new emergency mobile phone precise location service was launched that greatly assists the emergency services in determining the exact location of people in need that call 999 or 112.The Advanced Mobile Location (AML) is available on both Android and Apple devices and works by automatically finding a phone's GPS co-ordinates and sending them by way of a text message to the Emergency Call Answering Service when a 112 or 999 number is dialled. The co-ordinates are immediately passed to the emergency services in responding and dispatching emergency personnel to callers in need across Ireland. The NAS use AML which plots the mobile location automatically on the call takers OSI map. Approximately 55% of emergency calls from mobile devices have AML data and it is of vital assistance to Emergency Services around the country, but particularly in rural areas.

In addition since March 2018 under EU law all new models of cars sold must be equipped with eCall technology. eCall is an emergency call generated either manually by the occupants inside the car by pushing a button or automatically through activation of sensors inside the car following a crash. When activated in Ireland, the in-vehicle eCall device will establish an emergency call carrying both voice and data directly to the Emergency Call Answering Service who will transfer the call to the required emergency service. Where no voice is carried on the call, eCall technology allows for the data to be transferred directly to the National Ambulance Service.

Operational matters and the use of location based services to dispatch ambulances is a matter for the NAS and not one in which I, as Minister, have a statutory function.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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179. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the minimum, maximum and median time for new properties to get an Eircode; the implications of this for connection of utility services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23569/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Capita Business Support Services Ireland, trading as Eircode, was awarded a 10 year contract in December 2013 to develop, implement, maintain and promote the National Postcode System "Eircode".

Eircodes are assigned to new property addresses using a valid postal address and verified geo-locations. An Post collects information on new and existing buildings, as well as changes to existing addresses and Ordnance Survey Ireland provides the geo-locations for these buildings. An Post GeoDirectory, a subsidiary company of An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland, issue a new release of the GeoDirectory database file on a quarterly basis to Eircode in accordance with their licence agreement.

Each new postal address assigned an Eircode is published on the free to use Eircode Finder website, a notification letter is issued to the property occupant containing the Eircode of that address and an updated Eircode Database is provided to licensed businesses for their use. Eircode have informed my Department that over 117,500 property addresses have been assigned an Eircode since the launch in 2015.

The timeframe for the updated Eircodes to be made accessible to utility companies is dependent on each company's own Eircode data provider's contracted agreement. All such Eircode data providers are sourced and contracted by individual utility companies.

Operational matters and commercial decisions of private commercial operators, including the updating of databases, are a matter for these commercial operators and one in which I have no direct function.