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At only 8pc of population using broadband, Ireland’s broadband penetration is almost half the EU15 average of 15.9pc of population, the latest score card from the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) has revealed.

The new research from ECTA shows that Ireland is still in 14th place out of 15 European countries.

Top of the scorecard were Denmark and the Netherlands with 28pc and 26.8pc penetration respectively. Denmark had zero percent growth in broadband whereas the Netherlands managed a 6pc growth rate.

Our closest neighbour, the UK, towered over Ireland with an 18.9pc penetration and still managed to grow 15pc during the first quarter.

While Ireland’s 19pc broadband growth rate was ahead of the European average of 9pc, it was behind on the 28pc growth rate achieved in the last quarter of 2005.

“Ireland would need to demonstrate a 100pc per quarter growth rate if it were to reach the top of the broadband league,” said IrelandOffline spokesman Damian Mulley.

Tom Hickey, chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators (ALTO), said that the still unresolved issue of number portability has dented any progress that might have been achieved in the past quarter.

“Various parties have tried to dismiss broadband scorecards from ECTA and the OECD in the past because they didn’t want to hear. Various parties have been talking up Ireland’s broadband progress in the past few months but it is clear that Ireland’s progress is nowhere near where we need to be if we want to be on par with other European countries,” Hickey said.

The latest ECTA figures revealed that Ireland had a total of 322,491 broadband connections in the first quarter of 2006, compared with 271,078 in the fourth quarter of 2005.

“Our order of growth is not delivering any catch-up,” warned Hickey. “We need to grow at least twice the growth rate of everybody else to get up to average and be there with the leaders.”

Mitigating factors Hickey pointed out were a low level of competition in the Irish marketplace for broadband and problems allowing people to migrate to broadband with alternative operators.

“We are effectively three years behind where we should be. What Ireland needs is a healthy market with innovative operators offering innovative services. Any attempts at innovation have been stifled because people would have to change their phone number or suspend services for a period of time, which they are not prepared to do.”

As well as this, Hickey said the problem is having an impact on economic life in Ireland as there are a large number of people working in both corporate and small and medium-sized enterprise businesses who want to work from home but can’t get broadband.

Mulley said that even if Communications Minister Noel Dempsey’s target of 400,000 broadband connections by the end of this year is reached, Ireland will still be way behind.

"When Minister Dempsey came to office he set a broadband target rate of 400,000 connections by the end of 2006. If we have 400,000 connections by December it means nothing more than we are still second last. It's like setting a target that the day after a Monday is a Tuesday."

Mulley added: "A high growth rate on a low penetration rate is meaningless; we grew by 19pc last quarter, the Netherlands grew at 6pc, three times slower, yet they have moved higher up the table and even further away from us. Penetration rate is the key indicator on progress and when you look at that you see the rest of the EU are doing much better than us."

By John Kennedy