The only country in the European Union that is still without a functioning postcode system, Ireland, is likely to have one up and running by the end of next year.

At the end of last month, the Irish Department for Communications published an invitation for tenders for the implementation of a national postcode system and the deadline for applications is mid-March, FEDMA (Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing) reports.

The selected consultant is expected to advise the Irish government on the implementation of the system from the end of next month.

The Irish Communications Minister, Eamon Ray, says the new system will be functional by the end of 2011 and is expected to greatly improve the quality of postal services and other government services which depend on the existence of a postcode system.

The system will be an alpha-numeric, publicly-available postcode. A group of buildings represented by a postcode will also have a geo-coordinate at its centre, thus the system should be compatible with GPS systems.

Various sources suggest the costs for the project will be between 15 and 22 million euros.