Along with residents of the UK, Irish people use an average of 110 rolls of toilet paper every year. This compares drastically with residents of the Ukraine, the lowest toilet roll users in Europe, who use just over four toilet rolls per person a year.

"The UK and Ireland have a very good, healthy and also a very similar market, " said Roberto Berardi of the European Tissue Symposium (ETS).

"The combination of softness and strength, along with the introduction of such luxuries as aloe vera, have made their toilet roll the best in the world. This is part of the reason why there is so much consumption in these countries."

Irish people use an average of 17.6kg of toilet roll every year. This is well ahead of the American average of 15.7kg and the western European average of 12.4kg a year.

"US toilet roll is not a success and has not been accepted into Europe, " said Berardi. "It is extremely soft, but not substantial and it falls apart too easily. Then in Germany, toilet paper is practically bullet-proof it's so strong. But it's not soft. Irish and British toilet paper has the best of both qualities."

Toilet paper brands such as Andrex and Kittensoft, which have a 20% and 17% value share in the Irish market respectively, have been cited as some of the best quality toilet rolls in Europe, according to Berardi.

"When you look at toilet roll in Russia, you can see that it is extremely like newspaper, " he said. "It is grey and crepey, of very low quality and therefore extremely cheap. Russians only spend Euro2 per capita per annum."

In monetary terms, the average Irish person spends Euro14 a year on toilet roll, the fourth highest in Europe. The UK is highest in Europe with Euro17, while France, Germany and Spain all spend an average of Euro12 per person a year.

Polish people are at the lower end of the scale, spending just Euro5 a year on toilet roll.

"Roll sizes tend to differ and recently there has been a big movement towards jumbo rolls, " said Berardi.

"Overall, Europe's toilet roll consumption has risen by 40% in the last decade and this looks set to continue."