FTA Ireland has expressed its frustration and disappointment at the lack of any progress or information from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (DCENR) on the introduction of a post code system for Ireland. A significant increase in e-commerce, business to customer and business to business deliveries means such a system would enable greater speed and efficiency and result in significant savings in time and money, to the benefit of businesses and customers alike.
The introduction of a post code system was recommended by a working group as long ago as 2005, and was recommended in 2006 by the National Postcode Panel Board. In 2009 the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan TD, announced that the government had approved the introduction of such a system, but so far there are still no time-bound plans for its delivery.
Declan McKeon, Head of Policy for FTA Ireland said:
"We met with Minister Pat Rabbitte and his officials in September 2012, along with affected FTA Ireland members, to outline the importance of such a system, and he committed to finishing the procurement process in early 2013. This was subsequently pushed back to the end of the first quarter of 2013, then to the end of the second quarter. His department is giving no commitment on the schedule or any progress that has been made, and has refused to discuss the issue with us.
"The benefits in efficiency and cost savings which a postal coding system would bring have been acknowledged by An Post, and private industry has developed its own system, 'Loc8', which has already developed 200,000 codes and is widely used by many organisations, including local authorities. We believe that the introduction of an official system is long overdue."