Ownership of home computers increased by 11 per cent in 2004, and connections to the internet rose by 16 per cent.
But Ireland still lags behind other EU members-states on the use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), according to a new report from the Central Statistics Office.
In its second report on the information society, the CSO said the proportion of households with computers had increased from 18.6 per cent (229,300 homes) in 1998 to 46.2 per cent (649,400) in 2004.
And the percentages of houses connected to the internet increased from 5 per cent (61,200) to 38.2 per cent (537,000) over the same period.
But Ireland had yet to catch up with the European average for last year of 56 per cent computer home ownership and 46 per cent internet access.
In 2003, Denmark had the highest level of access to home computing with almost 80 per cent of households having a home computer and almost two-thirds having internet access.
The CSO also found the prevalence of home computer ownership and internet access to be higher in the southern and eastern regions than in the Border, midland and western regions.
The level of computer usage was highest for students and persons in employment. Computer usage was lowest for those aged 65 or over.
An estimated 727,300 people in Ireland used a computer every day this year, while about 373,000 used the internet at least once a day.
The most popular activity on the internet was e-mailing, while travel and holiday accommodation were by far the most common internet purchases.
