Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 June 2016
533. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on a recent survey carried out by a company (details supplied) which found that 96% of companies in the logistics business do not use Eircode; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15340/16]
View answerI presume the Deputy is referring to the "CBRE Ireland Logistics & Supply Chain Confidence Index 2016" which includes a short analysis on the introduction and usage of Eircodes. In addition to the statistic referenced by the Deputy in his question, the report also notes that two thirds of the survey respondents said the introduction of the Eircode postcode system has been a positive development for the Irish Market, with 73% of shipping respondents and 64% of logistics & E-Commerce companies saying the introduction of Eircode has been a positive development.
Information available to my Department indicates that a significant number of commercial bodies have incorporated the Eircode into their online services, and this continues to grow. Since the launch, Capita, the Postcode Management Licence Holder (PMLH), has signed up a total of 28 Eircode Value Added Re-sellers who provide a broad spectrum of Eircode specialist services to businesses including, location based applications for logistics/deliveries sector, address validation, database cleansing, address look ups and a range of spatial analytic applications. These 28 VARs have signed licences with 399 End User organisations who are using Eircodes in their businesses. The industries using Eircode data include Retail, Logistics/Delivery, Financial Services, Insurance, Utilities and Public Sector bodies. Most of the Eircode licenced End Users are using the data for address verification and deliveries, as well as for risk assessment in Insurance and Financial Services.
The integration of Eircodes into the relevant business systems of individual firms is linked to their systems development lifecycle which can, in some cases, lead to a time lag before Eircodes are used by the business in their day-to-day operations and in their service offerings. The timing of the integration process is a matter for individual businesses to take.
I am satisfied that once Eircodes are used in Google applications and Sat Navs, their usage will increase.
