THE nationwide network of Eircodes should be extended to cover farmyards and workplaces in the interests of safety and quicker emergency response times, according to a local county councillor and farmer.

Cllr. Andrew Reddington said that in the case of a farm accident or medical emergency, no Eircodes can currently be provided for farmyards.

He added that he had been in touch with Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, with a view of examining ways to extend Eircodes – or a similar system – to farmyards and workplaces.

“I have been informed that Eircodes cannot be extended to non-postal addresses because they are based on the GeoDirectory, which is an An Post product, that uses postal addresses only.

“In the case of an accident, when you need to ring for an ambulance, you should be able to send the Eircode of the shed or another precise location code.

“Seconds matter in emergencies, and currently, a pin drop [using Google maps to pinpoint a location] either cannot be made quickly enough, or farmers don’t know how to use it,” said Cllr. Reddington.

However, the Headford councillor, said that he had written to Minister Heydon as regards other types of identification that could be used, one of them a Loc8 system which has been developed for use in Ireland.

He said that the Loc8 system was a location identification and navigation system developed for use in Ireland.

“It uses unique 8-character alphanumeric codes (Loc8 Codes) to pinpoint locations, particularly useful for rural and hard-to-find areas. We need this system rolled out to farmyards in the cases of accident and emergency situations,” he added.

Cllr. Reddington said that farmers often had to participate in Bord Bia audits, and when filling out their forms, the Eircode required is usually that of their house.

“However, their farmyard could be miles away, making it difficult for emergency services to locate them quickly.

“In the case of an accident, when you need to ring an ambulance, you should be able to send the Eircode of the shed or another precise location code.

“Seconds matter in emergencies, and currently, a pin drop either cannot be made quickly enough, or farmers don’t know how to do it,” he said.

Pictured: Andrew Reddington: Location codes vital in emergency situations.