An Garda Síochána has confirmed it was contacted by authorities in Austria last year in relation to the alleged involvement of Irish-based computer users in the distribution of child pornography.
Confusion arose today after Garda Headquarters reportedly denied it had received such notification.
However Austrian federal police authority insisted the Garda had been informed that the users of two computers in Ireland were allegedly involved in the pornography network.
It emerged yesterday that Austrian police have broken up a worldwide child-pornography ring involving 2,300 people in 77 countries in the largest operation of its kind to date.
The Austrian authorities said details had been passed to gardaí that the Irish-based users had viewed videos and pictures of children aged between five and 14 experiencing what was described as "the worst sexual abuse".
Austrian police were tipped off by a Vienna-based internet service provider last July who said eight pornographic videos had been uploaded to its file-share facility without its knowledge.
Investigators found video material uploaded from Britain. The files contained a link to a larger website based in Russia which registered more than 8,000 visits in 24 hours. This site charged users $89 (€68) for three-month access to more than eight terabytes (8,000 gigabytes) of child pornographic files - about 470 hours of broadcast-quality video.
Austrian investigators said they had tracked down 607 suspects in the US, 406 in Germany and 114 in France. In Austria, 23 suspects were identified - ranging from a 17-year-old student and middle-aged civil servants to a 69-year-old pensioner.
The website was shut down.
A short statement issued by the Garda press office this evening said: "An Garda Siochana can confirm that it received correspondence from the Austrian authorities via Interpol in August 2006 in relation to the alleged involvement of Irish based computer users in the distribution of child pornography.
"This information has been referred to the relevant operational sections of An Garda Siochana and an investigation is ongoing."