Fine Gael has drafted a Bill to eliminate nuisance e-mails (spam), which it says costs business in the Republic up to €200 million a year.
The party's spokesman on communications, marine and natural resources, Mr Simon Coveney TD, said: "Spam is a cause of considerable irritation for computer users, but perhaps more importantly it costs Irish business almost €200 million every year.
"Spam is the main factor assisting the spread of computer viruses that force Irish business to spend a fortune constantly upgrading their anti-virus software."
The Bill would require Internet service providers to filter and reduce spam e-mails. It would also make it an offence to send commercial text messages.
"The top 1,100 companies in Ireland employ 574,679 people, or an average of 509 people in each company," Mr Coveney said. "A recent UK study estimated the cost of spam to businesses at €57,000 per year for those employing more than 500 people.
"If the same costs were to reasonably apply in Ireland, then the top 1,100 companies would face a cost of €62.7 million per year. With twice this number of people employed in the economy in smaller companies, the cost to business across the economy comes to a total of €188 million."