The importance of Eircode familiarisation, especially in rural areas, for speedy access to emergency services and other uses, is being highlighted by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment.
Familiarisation, they said, manages the challenges around locating some addresses without delay.
“Since its launch in July 2015, Eircode usage continues to grow and is used widely among the public, businesses and public sector,” a spokesperson said.
This, in part, can be seen by use of the free online Eircode Finder website, finder.eircode.ie, with over 56.9 million look-ups since its launch, and with 1.9 million look-ups in January 2020, a 24% increase on the previous January.
“During 2019, there were over 18 million look-ups on the finder. With particular emphasis on enhancing rural life, Eircode, as the state’s unique property identifier, manages the challenges around locating addresses in Ireland, specifically the fact that more than 35% of addresses are non unique; where an address is shared by more than one property,” the spokesperson said.
This aids in ensuring those in rural areas will have the same access to services as urban dwellers, in particular access to health services and emergency services.
“The non sequential unique identifier best meets the needs of the Irish addressing problem by uniquely identifying properties that share the same address. A non sequential Eircode is particularly beneficial to rural areas as it accommodates new properties being built on lands surrounding current properties.”
Awareness is high
An independent nationally representative survey was carried out by Ámarach in 2019 to measure public sentiment towards Eircodes and familiarisation with them.
“The results of the survey showed awareness is high, with 99% having heard of Eircodes and 94% responding that they have used Eircodes.
“The survey results showed that 87% found Eircodes useful, 59% knowing their Eircode off by heart and 72% aware that an Eircode is unique to each property,” said the department spokesperson.
“Shortly after the launch of Eircode, the National Ambulance Service (NAS) integrated Eircodes into its computer-aided dispatch system and actively encourages people who are seeking an emergency ambulance to have their Eircode available to pass it on to the call taker.
“This means that the patient’s address and the position of the nearest available ambulance can be accurately pinpointed on a digital map. This enables an ambulance to quickly and accurately be routed to someone in need of medical help,” they said.
Property marking programme
Eircode has teamed up with not-for-profit company, Property Marking Ireland, An Garda Siochána Joint Policing Committees (JPCs), local authorities and local communities to roll out a nationwide property marking programme.
This initiative aims to combat property theft and assist in the identification and return of stolen property.
You can add Eircodes onto farm equipment; garage and garden tools; power tools; computers and electrical devices; many mobile phones and tablets; equestrian equipment; golf clubs; musical instrument cases; bicycles, and much more.
“These Eircodes are difficult to remove and can be repeated a number of times on the one item. Property that is marked with the Eircode is less attractive to thieves as it is difficult to sell and easy for An Garda Siochána to trace the owner.
“The aim of the programme is to deter theft and enable An Garda Siochána to identify and reunite stolen property with its owner.
“Clare County Council has held 18 property marking clinics, most recently in partnership with the Clare divisional crime prevention unit. The system has been demonstrated at a number of regional Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) AGMs,” the department spokesperson said.
“The national ambulance service is currently fitting its ambulances with digital mobile data systems (MDTs) that allow responding crews to have the call details sent to their MDT screens together with the Eircode and visual location data in map format to assist with ambulance arrival at the correct location,” they said.
“Families accessing public transport within rural, urban and city centre locations for door-to-door services can use Eircodes in the National Transport Authority’s (NTA’s) journey planning app. This is particularly beneficial with more rural addresses as the majority share the same address.
“Waterford City and County Council have incorporated the Eircode into customer management systems, used by members of the public to report anti-social incidents, dumping, litter and similar to the council,” the spokesperson said.
Buying online
“Using the Eircode can simplify buying online for shoppers and retailers by speeding up customer address capture while also validating the address at point-of-sale reducing the number of clicks a shopper has to make by up to 91%.
“For example, applicants have saved an average of two minutes per form when applying for a student grant using the SUSI online grants system,” said the department spokesperson.
Noel Gibbons of Mayo County Council’s road safety office said he recommends that road users have the likes of app.autoaddress.ie or other apps on their phones.
“If they were involved in a road collision or come on one, they could get their exact location and share with the emergency services which would speed up the proceed of location of the collision getting to them.”
This, he said, would be vital in ‘golden hour’ – the immediate one-hour time period following a traumatic injury, during which, chances of preventing death by way of prompt medical treatment are the highest.