Sir, – Contrary to some of the assertions by Una Mullally, the use of Eircode is widespread among the public, business and the public sector (Opinion & Analysis, February 13th).
First, it must be stated that we face a unique challenge in that 35 per cent of all residences in Ireland share the same address, ie the addresses are non-unique within the area. This is the highest figure in the OECD and one which has a particularly negative impact for people living in rural Ireland who rely on various kinds of services. The Eircode design successfully solves this problem of non-unique addresses and is future-proofed so that the Eircode doesn’t need to change ,unlike the postcode design in Britain, which has changed many times.
The figure of €38 million quoted in the article is the amount allocated for the full 10 years of the contract. So far €21.3 million has been spent on the implementation phase and Eircode service operations, which began in July 2015.
The Eircode Finder app has been popular with the public with just under 10 million look-ups since July 2015. Google has already integrated Eircode with Google maps, while TomTom and other location-based service providers are currently integrating Eircodes within their products. Eircode has also been adopted by the National Ambulance Services.
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Many companies ask for and have adopted Eircodes for the benefit of their business and their customers, including Tesco, Musgrave, Domino’s Pizza, Campus Oil, PowerCity, Currys PC World, Boots, OpenEir and Electric Ireland.
Eircodes support the development of e-commerce and online deliveries and are used by the Nightline Group and Fastway Couriers. It’s not just bigger companies either. Free mobile apps and the online Eircode Finder app have opened up Eircode to smaller businesses in the courier market.
An Post has formed a new division, Post Logistics, that incorporates Eircode’s unique design to ensure reliable shipment and freight forwarding services from Ireland to locations in the UK and Europe.
Eircode is also being used by Student Universal Support Ireland and the CSO launched the new Residential Property Price Index covering all market purchases of houses and apartments, including rural Ireland. Eircodes provide the necessary addition of better quality location information, allowing the register to measure prices with greater accuracy by using the Eircode Routing Key. –Yours, etc,
DENIS NAUGHTEN TD,
Minister for
Communications,
Climate Action
and Environment,
Adelaide Road
Dublin 2,
D02 X285.
Sir, – I still await my first letter from any local or central government source that includes my own Eircode. Need I say more? – Yours, etc,
JOHN BURNETT,
Carrigaline, Co Cork.