Internet usage in the Republic continued to rise throughout the year although the rate of growth remains significantly slower than many countries in northern Europe, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reported.
The CSO's second report into the Information Society, examining how information and communications technologies (ICT) are being used, shows that 46 per cent - or nearly 650,000 - of homes have a computer while 537,000 have Internet access.
According to the CSO, some 727,000 people use a computer every day, either at home or at work and 373,000 go online daily. E-commerce continues to grow in the domestic market, with flights and accommodation the most common Internet purchases.
Businesses have continued to migrate to the web, and almost all offices in the State now have access to the Internet. Most companies use it as a marketing tool with sales using e-commerce accounting for about a quarter of industrial turnover.
The survey shows that just over half of all businesses have made some purchases using e-commerce - although it still accounts for a very small percentage of total purchases, except in the retail and wholesale sectors where about 8 per cent of purchases are by electronic data interchange).
The use of computer security measures has increased in the past year with an estimated 83 per cent of businesses now using virus checking or protection software.
However, the security measures only extend so far and as many as 60 per cent of businesses do not keep an offsite backup of their electronic files.
Telcoms operators will be glad to hear that there has been an increased uptake of broadband by business.
The percentage of businesses with an xDSL connection doubled from 9 per cent in 2003 to 18 per cent in 2004, while 14 per cent of businesses reported using other types of broadband connection.
The State continues to lag behind many EU countries, however. In 2003, 79 per cent of Danish households had a computer and almost two-thirds had Internet access. In Norway, The Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom, more than half of all homes had access to the Internet.
