Traditional placenames will be retained in addresses when the new post code system is introduced, the communications regulator has said.
Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey announced details yesterday of the new system, which will see a combination of numbers or letters added to every address by the beginning of 2008.
The post codes are being introduced to improve the accuracy of the postal service and to overcome the problem of identifying more than 40 per cent of addresses that are "not unique", Mr Dempsey said.
Public consultation conducted by the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) last year found significant concern that historical rural placenames could be lost if a numerical code-based system was introduced.
However, a spokesman for ComReg said, rural districts were most in need of post codes, particularly in areas where certain family names dominated.
"The consultation revealed that there is a strong attachment to family names. ComReg believes that it is possible to introduce a system of post codes that will not affect historical and traditional townland names, particularly in rural areas."
Business groups have welcomed the system, saying it should dramatically improve postal delivery rates.
The current system is "wholly inefficient" and has hampered competition, according to independent business organisation ISME. Delivery times were currently 23 per cent below target, ISME chief executive Mark Fielding said.
General secretary of the Irish Postmasters' Union John Kane said he did not believe the new system was necessary.
"It was my understanding that we didn't need post codes. We have a small population, smaller than greater Manchester, and An Post have already spent a couple of 100 million on an auto-sorting system, which I understand is working well."
The company had "higher priorities to consider", he said; employees had not been paid Sustaining Progress increases and one-third of post offices were still not computerised.
An Post said it will co-operate with the new system, but has defended its current technology. "We're not against post codes, but we don't need them. We have our own technology in place and it doesn't rely on post codes," a spokeswoman said.
Opposition parties have raised concerns over the potential costs of the new system.
Fine Gael communications spokesman Bernard Durkan said it could lead to increases in junk mail and should only be introduced if there are clear benefits to consumers.
The company's financial difficulties could be exacerbated if the system does not come in on budget, Labour's Tommy Broughan said.
In a separate development, a large quantity of mail has been discovered dumped in a ditch in Co Meath. More than 1,000 items were found on one particular route serving the village of Donore near Newgrange.
