IRELAND’S national postcode system has been heralded as an ‘outstanding success’ as it marks its tenth anniversary.
Independent research showed that an impressive 97% of respondents were able to supply a validated Eircode for their address.
Minister of State for Postal Policy Charlie McConalogue said the system was a success story ‘widely used among the public, businesses and public sector’.
He added: ‘The continued use of the free-to-use Eircode Finder website, which has received 197 million look-ups since launch, further proves that Eircodes are utilised on a daily basis. ‘
He congratulated Capita Business Support Services Ireland Limited for the ‘outstanding work they have done in operating Eircodes on behalf of the State, and I look forward to our continued partnership’.
In December 2013, Capita Business Support Services Ireland Limited, trading as Eircode, were awarded the contract to develop, rollout and operate the National Postcode System, which was formally launched in July 2015.
A key driver for the introduction of Eircodes was to deal with the challenges faced with non-unique addresses in Ireland. These include difficulties encountered by the emergency services in locating addresses due to 35% of all properties in the state sharing an address with other properties.
This is the highest figure in the OECD and has a particularly negative impact for people and businesses in rural Ireland who require better access to goods and services.
Since the launch in July 2015, there have been 197.3 million look-ups on the Finder, 2m average monthly look-ups and 24m look-ups in 2024, 41,624 addresses assigned an Eircode in 2024, 38,851 addresses assigned an Eircode in 2022, 299,000 addresses received an Eircode since launch.
By the end of May 2025, there were 2651 business organisations and State agencies licensing Eircodes.
