Some 67pc of Irish households have access to a broadband connection, but this is below the EU-wide average of 76pc, according to Eurostat figures published for the European Commission.
In terms of access to the internet, in general 82pc of Irish households can access the internet in some form, above the EU average of 79pc.
Some 62pc of Irish people use the internet every day or almost every day, equal to the EU average of 62pc. Eighty-three per cent of people in the Netherlands use the internet every day, compared to 32pc in Romania.
The study also found that 41pc of Irish people use the internet to interact with government authorities, below the EU average of 45pc.
In the EU28, 79pc of households had access to the internet in 2013 and 76pc had a broadband internet connection, compared with 55pc and 42pc respectively in 2007. For most individuals in the EU28, using the internet has become a regular activity, with 62pc of individuals using it every day or almost every day and a further 10pc at least once a week.
On the other hand, 21pc of individuals reported in 2013 that they have never used the internet, compared with 37pc in 2007.
With regard to the use of e-government, 41pc of individuals in the EU28 used the internet to interact with public authorities or services in 2013.
Reasons for this interaction reported by EU28 e-government users were income tax declarations (44pc of internet users who interacted with public authorities), requests for personal documents (20pc), claiming social security benefits (16pc) and enrolment in higher education or university (9pc).
Broadband image via Shutterstock
