Capita Business Support Services Ireland, trading as Eircode, assigns Eircodes to new property addresses using a valid postal address and verified geo-locations.
An Post collects information on all new and existing buildings, including renovated buildings, along with changes to existing addresses and Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) provides the geo-locations for these buildings. An Post GeoDirectory (APG), a subsidiary company of An Post and OSi, issue a new release of the GeoDirectory database file on a quarterly basis to Eircode in accordance with their license agreement. Each new postal address assigned an Eircode is published on the free to use Eircode Finder website, a notification letter is issued to the property occupant containing the Eircode of that address and an updated Eircode Database is provided to licensed organisations for use. Eircode have informed my officials that over 160,000 property addresses have been assigned an Eircode since the launch in 2015.
Once the Eircode database is updated on a quarterly basis it is then a matter for individual organisations to apply and integrate the latest Eircode updates into their systems to meet their needs and those of their customers, in accordance with the terms of their license agreements.
Operational matters and decisions of local authorities, including the updating of their database, are a matter for individual local authorities and are not matters in which I have a direct function.
My officials have been in ongoing engagement with An Post, APG, OSI and Capita on the matter of early assignment of Eircodes. Earlier assignment of Eircodes is contingent on An Post facilitating the increased frequency of new and changed addresses in the GeoDirectory database from quarterly to monthly to Eircode, through their subsidiary APG. An Post have taken a leading role in the analysis and developing proposals for a full monthly solution of the GeoDirectory database and work is progressing on a feasible solution for new properties with postal addresses and geo-locations.
