Govt Encourages Use Of Eircodes To Combat Rural Crime

The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton, Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan, and Minister of State Sean Canney have today, Thursday 25 April, encouraged farmers, house and business owners to use the Eircode system to combat rural crime.

An Eircode is a unique seven character code assigned to each individual address in Ireland. The government is encouraging property owners to mark their property with this unique identifier, through the Property Marking Ireland programme. The aim is to deter theft and enable An Garda Siochána to identify and reunite stolen property with its owner. 

Property theft depends on criminals profiting from selling stolen goods. A stolen item, which is marked with a unique identifier in a discreet and difficult to remove location is less attractive to criminals. Furthermore, a marked item is much easier to return to an owner if recovered by An Garda Siochána.

Minister Bruton said: "Eircodes are the perfect unique identifier for marking your property, making it much less appealing to thieves. This service works with local communities to send a clear message to criminals operating in the area that theft will not be tolerated and makes it much easier for the Gardaí to return stolen property to the rightful owner."

Justice Minister Flanagan added: "Good policing is about cooperation and schemes like these are great because they help us help the Gardai to keep us safe. They make it easier for the Gardai to match recovered goods with rightful owners, and they also make us feel safer in the first place knowing that we are less likely to be targeted if potential thieves know we have come together and marked all our goods."

Minister of State for Natural Resources, Community Affairs and Digital Development Sean Canney T.D. said: "Property theft is very prevalent in rural Ireland and we need to put every barrier in place to rule out this type of illegal action. The use of Eircodes is a clever way of identifying ownership of property and helps in having recovered property returned.

"Property Marketing Ireland, a not-for-profit company, works with local communities to run events where people can get property marked with their Eircode. In the coming months property marking with Eircodes will start in Donegal, Sligo, Cavan, Louth, Clare and Tipperary."

Members of the public that are interested in having their property engraved with an Eircode can ask local authorities or contact Property Marking Ireland for more information.