Eircode needs “time to bed down”, says Comms Minister
Ireland’s Communications Minister Alex White has argued that the new Eircode – launched yesterday – will have its teeth problems but will go on to “prove itself to be effective”. The new Eircode system gives every house a unique seven-digit code. The first three digits are a reference to the general area in which the house is located (e.g. DO1 for the Dublin 1 district), the remaining four digits are randomly assigned. In practice, this means that within a postal district of tens of thousands of properties, it will be difficult to tell if certain properties are close to each other without paying for access to the government database.
Irish Fire and Emergency Services Association chairperson John Kidd has claimed that the consequences could be “catastrophic” in emergency situations.
“Because Eircode does not identify small local areas, it will be of little benefit for a large number of callouts” he said. “Our colleagues in Northern Ireland are used to postcodes that can be learned and are predictable so that they can find localities easily from memory. Eircode does not offer that capability.”
In addition to the concerns about not assigning sequential codes for neighbouring properties, critics of the system pointed out yesterday that the system doesn’t have a code for landmarks, such as the General Post Office (GPO) on Dublin’s O’Connell Street, and it also suggested that Shannon Airport was in Co Limerick.
As previously reported, the Freight Transport Association of Ireland was highly critical of the system prior to the launch – and it has not softened its stance since. Two key members of the FTAI, the parcel delivery heavyweights DHL and FedEx, have claimed that they will not use the system.
However, the Irish Communications Minister yesterday asked the industry to give the new system time. He argued that the system was already making a positive contribution, and it would improve as it gained acceptance.
“We cannot expect to have the entire system finalised on day one,” said White.
However, he continued: “From today, a business that delivers parcels, or other goods or services, will have an affordable and effective new tool that actively identifies addresses.”
The Minister added: “I think in lots of ways an important infrastructure project like this is going to take some time to bed down and for people to understand it.”
