Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 June 2016
3. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views that the establishment of Eircode has provided value for money; if he is satisfied with the rate of take up by industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16216/16]
View answerThe question relates to the setting up of Eircode. The Minister will be aware that it ran €20 million over budget. Is the Minister satisfied with the take up and use of Eircodes in the transport and delivery business?
International experience shows that it takes a number of years for postcodes to become widely used after their introduction. Since the launch of Eircode, just under a year ago, there have been more than 4 million look ups on the Eircode finder, with average daily hits running at approximately 19,000. More than 80 million records across 15 public sector bodies were encoded before the launch and more than 3 million pieces of correspondence containing Eircodes have been issued by public sector bodies since July last year.
Some examples of usage by public sector bodies include the Emergency Call Answering Service, ECAS, which takes emergency calls made to 112 and 999 numbers. It has updated its systems and changed processes to enable the use of Eircode postcodes when presented by callers. The National Ambulance Service, NAS, has installed a new computer-aided dispatch system, which incorporates the Eircode postcode. This allows callers in any part of the country to phone the ambulance control centre and give their Eircode postcodes, facilitating a speedier dispatch of ambulances. The passport card online application form was introduced in October 2015 and all passport card online application forms request a postcode. All 2016 census forms included a postcode. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has started uploading the National Vehicle and Driver File, NVDF, with Eircode postcodes. This database includes address particulars in respect of the 2.6 million licensed vehicles and 2.74 million driver licence holders in the country. The motor tax database of the NVDF went live in January 2016 with postcodes.
The Revenue Commissioners have uploaded postcodes in some of their main databases and started issuing Eircode postcode-enabled correspondence in July 2015. In November 2015 alone, one database issued more than 800,000 items of correspondence with postcodes. The Department of Social Protection started issuing postcode enabled correspondence in October 2015 and, since then, more than 877,000 items of correspondence have issued with a postcode. The educational grants authority, SUSI, processes over 120,000 grant applications per annum and it now requests that college grant applications include a postcode. This has assisted SUSI to determine more efficiently the location of student addresses saving them time and facilitating faster processing times for issuing grants. Electric Ireland issued 680,000 electricity bills in February which had a postcode included on them.
The logistics and supply chain confidence index 2016 is a study that involved discussions with 53 large companies. They said this system will not have a positive impact for them. A total of 93% of respondents expect no net gain from the Eircode postcode system. While most companies welcomed the introduction of a postcode as a positive development, 96% of respondents said they had not adapted their businesses to process postcodes. I wonder whether much of this is rooted in the design of the system. Eircode is a world first in assigning a random code to every address in the State. At the outset, the national postcodes project board, which comprised representatives of the public sector and various other organisations, recommended the adoption of a hierarchical code that would enable grouping and bundling of packages for delivery, which would assist these companies in doing their business much more efficiently. As a result of a campaign by some newspapers, which through freedom of information requests have succeeded in securing access to information that had been restricted for some time, it was established that there was a recommendation to go down the route of a hierarchical code but, sadly, that did not happen. The system in place is based on random assignment. It is not being used for that reason by the companies for which it should have been introduced in the first instance and which would benefit most in respect of reducing the back end processing of the delivery of parcels. The Minister probably needs to have discussions with his officials to establish why that happened.
I read the report on the survey. It noted that two thirds of respondents said the introduction of the Eircode postcode system was a positive development for the domestic market with 73% of shipping respondents and 64% of logistics and e-commerce companies saying its introduction was a positive development. The Deputy is selectively quoting. There is positive feedback regarding the postcode system. I was probably one of the first Members to advocate for this system. I have particular difficulties with it, as I am sure the Deputy has coming from County Clare with adjoining counties such as Limerick. The Cathaoirleach will be aware of these as well. The reason I sent literature to every home in the constituency in the run-up to the election was that by using Eircode postcodes, I could identify individual houses. Under the cluster model, I could not do that. No more than in County Clare, we had a huge problem in County Roscommon with ambulances going missing and getting delayed as they tried to find various townlands. However, now because the NAS is linked to the Eircode postcode system, if callers give their postcodes over the telephone, the ambulance personnel can identify their homes precisely.
The difficulty is that approximately 35% of addresses in the State are replicated elsewhere in the State. Milltown is a good example. How many Milltowns are there in County Clare? There is a litany of them in counties Roscommon and Galway. Which one should the ambulance be sent to? An Eircode postcode will bring the ambulance to the front door of the emergency. When seconds count, having an additional 15 or 20 minutes to get the ambulance there will have a significant impact. This is a wider issue than just facilitating logistics companies. There was always going to be a slow lead-in in respect of the uptake for this system but it was significant that the NAS came on board earlier this year. I have absolutely no doubt that will save lives. I encourage the Deputy to visit the national ambulance centre in Tallaght to see the Eircode system in operation. I hope to visit soon.
I am anxious not to cut across Members and to ensure fair play for everyone on both the ministerial and Opposition sides but if I do not adhere to the agreed time limits, we will not get to the questions tabled by some Members. I will give Deputy Dooley a minute to reply.
There is no doubt the introduction of a postcode system was the correct decision to take for Ireland and there are benefits for the NAS. I have visited the centre in Tallaght and have witnessed the excellent work that goes on there. However, the national postcodes project board said a hierarchical structure was needed, which would assist other sectors of the business community, but that has not been provided. Concerns have been expressed as to why that might have been the case. Was one operator favoured over others? The Minister needs to get to the bottom of that. A hierarchical structure would not take away from the capacity to divert an ambulance to the scene of an incident. Other surveys indicate that only 5% of the public know their postcode and, therefore, that will be the greatest inhibitor to benefitting the NAS in the long run because if somebody comes upon an accident and does not know the postcode of the location, it will not be of any assistance.
I understand why the Deputy is sceptical. One of the criticisms is we that should have opted for a cluster model. That is all well and good in Dublin where there are many houses in a small area. However, there are large townlands in the country and there could be 20 different families with the surname Murphy living on them. There could be five heads of household called Eugene Murphy. Which of them does one go to?
Deputy Ryan was critical of the system because he believes it should be sequential. The difficulty with that, particularly in rural Ireland, is what happens when a young couple is granted planning permission between two current addresses. What happens in Dublin as we try to develop brownfield sites? A sequential system would fall down quickly. We tried to put a system in place for the long term. I was critical in respect of the confusion over county addresses and I relayed that to my officials but the postcode system is saving lives today. It has saved lives over the past six months and it will be of massive benefit to our health service.
When that system can be put on a sat nav it will be a different story. When personal public service, PPS, numbers were introduced, people did not have a clue about them, but many people now know their PPS number because it is very useful. I believe the same will happen with Eircode.
Question No. 4 cannot be taken as Deputy Mattie McGrath is not in the Chamber.
Does Deputy Harty wish to raise it or has he been nominated to do so, as he is member of the same group as the Deputy?
