The Department of Communications has today issued an invitation to tender for the implementation of the national postcodes system, which is due to come into use by the end of 2011
Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan said that the selected consultants will likely begin their work on implementation of the system in late March
The initial set-up cost for the system is estimated at between €10 million and €15 million. However, a recent report from PA Consulting put the monetary benefits of postcodes to the State at €22 million “in the medium term.”
Ireland is the only country in the European Union without a national postcodes system and Mr Ryan said today that the introduction of a system here would bring faster and more accurate postal delivery.
“I am pleased that work on this project is continuing apace and look forward to working with the consultants and the department on the implementation of a national postcode system for Ireland,” he said in a statement.
The Government has approved an alpha-numeric postal code model to identify clusters of houses. This would read, for example, as D02 123 or ATH 123.
Under the new system each postcode will have a geo-coordinate at its centre and consequently, will be compatible with global positioning or navigation systems, allowing integration with GPS and other global navigation satellite technologies.
Fine Gael has previously expressed support for the introduction of a nationwide postal code system. However, Labour has questioned the decision to introduce the new measure during the current economic climate.
