The Communications Minister says the newly unveiled postal code system will launch Ireland into the digital age and create jobs in the process.

It was earlier revealed that seven-digit postcodes are coming to Ireland after Minister Pat Rabbitte got Cabinet agreement for the rollout of a new national postcode system.

This will see each letterbox in the country being given a unique code. The system will be in place by Spring of 2015 and will also include a public database to match postcodes to individual properties.

Existing postal districts in Dublin will appear as the first three characters of the new postcode. It is hoped that the new system will help services like ambulances to locate properties more easily and quickly.

The system will mean that individual apartments and offices in large developments will each have an individual code as long as specific post-boxes are provided.

The postcode will be in the format 'A65 B2CD', with the first three characters relating to a general area or postal district where the address is located.

The new system will bring Ireland in line with other European countries where postcode systems have been the norm for many decades.

Minister Rabbitte told The Right Hook here on Newstalk that this system will have positive implications for the economy.

Householders will be informed of their postcode in early 2015, and will be able to use it from then on.

The Department of Communications says that groundwork in designing the code and updating databases to accommodate the new system will be undertaken in the meantime.

The government has also approved - subject to contract - a consortium headed by Capita Ireland to develop, roll-out and operate the system.