Ireland 'lagging behind on broadband'

Irish firms are lagging behind the rest of the EU on broadband internet access which is putting them at a serious economic disadvantage, it was claimed yesterday.

The latest EuroStat survey puts Ireland third from the bottom of an EU league table of 19 member states.

It said only 32% of Irish companies have the high-speed internet link, compared to the EU average of 53% and a high of 80% in Denmark.