‘Post codes will bring significant opportunities’

Emergency response times in rural areas will be boosted by the introduction of post codes from next spring, Pat Rabbitte, the communications minister, has indicated.

Mr Rabbitte defended the €24m cost of rolling out the Eircode system, insisting that it will boost economic growth.

He said the electronic system would allow medical help to get to isolated areas more quickly, as nearly one third of homes, mostly in rural areas, currently do not have a unique address

“A publicly owned post code system is a key piece of modern national infrastructure, and as Eircode will be unique to each individual address, it will easily link with databases, online maps, satnavs, and smart phones,” said Mr Rabbitte.

“It will bring significant opportunities and benefits to the public, business, and government.

“In spring 2015 every Irish address will get a unique code which will bring many benefits in terms of efficient delivery of social services such as healthcare and emergency services to people in rural areas where 30% of addresses are non-unique.”

Mr Rabbitte said at least half of the €24m Eircode cost over 10 years would go towards the improvement of public service databases which would bring “considerable long-term efficiencies and savings in the delivery of public services”.

He denied claims that the key aim was to collect taxes more efficiently and said it would enhance access to state services. The Communications Department hailed the move as a quicker way to deliver goods and services to homes and businesses across the country.

The department stressed that when people receive their Eircode next year, they will not need to change their address.

Each Eircode has seven unique characters divided into two parts, a routing key and a unique identifier.