Just 16 per cent of Irish households with Internet access use broadband technology compared to an EU average of 48 per cent, it was revealed today.
The Central Statistics Office's third report on information society statistics showed that the number of broadband subscribers increased from 63,100 in the second quarter of 2004 to just over 176,000 in the corresponding quarter of 2005.
The number of metered dial-up Internet subscribers dropped from 595,000 to 542,000 over the same period.
Just 16 per cent of Irish households with internet access avail of broadband technology compared to an EU average of 48 per cent
The report also revealed that nearly all Irish businesses use computers and have access to e-mail and the Internet. An estimated 60 per cent of companies have a website and most use it to market products and publish prices.
The survey shows that 30 per cent of all firms had sales using e-commerce, which accounted for 21 per cent of total turnover.
Home users didn't fare as well, with the survey showing that only 45 per cent of households in Ireland have an Internet connection compared with an EU average of 48 per cent. Over 70 per cent of households in The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark and Sweden have access.
More than 797,700 households (or 54.9 per cent) have a home computer compared to 649,400 or 46.2 per cent) in 2004, with just over 82 per cent of home computer users connected to the Internet.
An estimated 817,300 people in Ireland used a computer every day or almost every day while nearly 528,800 people used the Internet at least once a day. The most popular activities for online users are information search and online services, communication, and interaction with public authorities.
The Irish continue to be among the world's most frequent users of text messages, with 3.6 billion texts (an average of 887 per person) sent in 2004.
Labour's Communications spokesperson Tommy Broughan said the statistics showed that "effective and comprehensive action" must be taken to end the country's broadband deficit.
"One of the key problems has been Minister Dempsey's ongoing failure to strengthen ComReg's powers through new legislation, especially in the area of advancing local loop unbundling."