Ireland still lags behind its European counterparts in terms of access to broadband, a Eurostat survey on internet usage and penetration has found.
The survey indicated 67 per cent of Irish households had a broadband connection in the second quarter of 2013, below the EU average of 76 per cent.
The study found 82 per cent of households here had some form of internet access compared with an EU average of 79 per cent.
The survey also suggested that 62 per cent of Irish people used the internet every day or almost every day, the same as the EU average.
The Netherlands had the highest number of people using the internet on a daily basis at 83 per cent while Romania had the lowest at 32 per cent.
Another significant finding was that 41 per cent of Irish people use the internet to interact with Government authorities, below the EU average of 45 per cent.
Reasons for this interaction reported by e-government users across the EU were income tax declarations (44 per cent), requests for personal documents (20 per cent), claiming social security benefits (16 per cent) and enrolment in higher education or university (9 per cent).
The survey suggested internet access and use was widespread amongst the EU population.
Among the 28 member states, 79 per cent of households had access to the internet in 2013 and 76 per cent had a broadband internet connection, compared with 55 per cent and 42 per cent respectively in 2007.
