AN POST HAS been criticised for not using Eircodes – despite the government spending almost €40 million on the scheme.

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Timmy Dooley said the situation is “simply inconceivable”.

The TD received a complaint from a person who had a confidential letter delivered incorrectly to his neighbour despite his correct Eircode being marked on the envelope.

This person was told by an official customer service representative of An Post that the company ‘does not make use of Eircode when delivering post.’

Dooley said that the state has spent €38 million on developing, rolling out and advertising Eircode yet the State’s own postal delivery service doesn’t bother to use it.

He added, “What’s worse is that An Post franks post going through their system with the message ‘Remember to use your Eircode’, yet still thinks it’s acceptable to not make use of it when delivering post.”

“There is no point spending nearly €40 million in designing and advertising a scheme such as Eircode and then not using it properly.”

Asked about the criticism, a spokesperson for An Post said that the system had “most certainly” been adopted “precisely as planned – in the processing of mail. All our sorting technology has been configured to read eircodes”.

The eircode was never intended for use at the delivery end. How could or why would a post-person retain or decipher up to 800 individual non-sequential codes on thousands of letters on his or her delivery route?

That isn’t done anywhere. An Post delivery staff know their routes inside out; they know precisely the location of every address.

All mail requires a full correct postal address and we encourage customers to include the eircode as an additional line at the end of the address.

We’re asking, do you use Eircodes? 

Note: This article was updated at 3pm on Friday 2 June. 

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