A new system which can pinpoint the exact location of any Irish address on a computer-generated map and identify and validate addresses held by large organisations on databases has been launched by Gamma.

The Irish GIS (Geographical Information Systems) consultancy's software will allow companies and public bodies to correct incorrect addresses and check the validity of addresses given by individuals.

The system is the first to use Geodirectory, a new database of the location of every building and residence in the Republic created by An Post and the Ordnance Survey.

The company has already sold the software to a number of Irish telecommunications companies. A number of local authorities and banks are also examining the possibility of using the software.

Managing director of the company, Mr Feargal O'Neill, said that Address-Link would get around the problems that organisations have with databases of addresses because there was no post code in the Republic.

He said the use of information was crucial in a competitive environment and Address-Link would allow organisations to be more accurate and effective in targeting and serving their customers.

For direct marketing companies the product can offer economic profiles of areas, which would reduce costs for companies by being able to target particular high, middle or low income areas.

Gamma, which employs 21 people in Dublin, invested around £300,000 over the last three years on the development of Address-Link.

In the telecommunication sector if a company gets a complaint from a customer anywhere in the State that the transmission they are getting is weak or garbled, the company, by inputing the persons name and address, can pinpoint their location on a computer generated map. They can then overlay the locations of their transmission points in the area over the original map to identify the problem.

Gamma, will also launch a consumer version of the site by the end of March, which will give users information on and directions to businesses and services near any address.

Political parties may soon even be able to use the software to identify the numbers of people receiving social welfare or the average rate of tax paid by constituents in a ward before canvassing.

The company can also convert large existing databases and structure them to the new national standard defined by Geodirectory.