Only one in five homes in the Republic had a broadband connection last year, and statistics show the vast majority of the state's broadband-enabled homes are in urban areas. Only 15%, or 45,000 rural homes, had broadband.

Of the 1,462,000 private households surveyed by the Central Statistics Office, only 292,000 respondents to the first-ever question on broadband penetration said they had a high-speed internet connection. Another 26% of households have non-broadband connections, and most likely use a modem for lowspeed dial-up connections.

Nearly half of private homes in the Republic, or 48%, have no internet access at all.

Disregarding the 5% of households nationally which did not answer the broadband question, regionally the midlands is the worst area for broadband in the home, with only 12% penetration.

The mid-east region is comparatively well-connected, with nearly 22% of homes enjoying broadband, while 20% of Dublin houses are similarly connected. Over 16% of households in the south-west have broadband, while the mid-west, west, and southeast all share a household penetration rate of around 14%.

Separate statistics published by the Commission for Communication Regulation in June revealed there were 602,000 broadband subscriptions in Ireland, and indicators show there has been a surge in new customers signing up for broadband since the 2006 census was carried out.

An Amarach survey for Comreg in March worked out regional variations among home internet users. It showed 68% of home internet users in Dublin had broadband subscriptions, compared to 43% in the rest of Leinster, 36% in Munster and just 30% in Ulster and Connacht.

More than 56% of Irish households owned personal computers at the time of the census; people living in Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown, Fingal and south Dublin were more likely to have computers and internet access, while households in Limerick city, Longford and Cork city reported the lowest rates.