More than 15% of all enterprises used Artificial Intelligence (AI) in 2024, compared with 51% of large enterprises (250 or more people employed).
In 2024, 57% of large enterprises had broadband with a speed of at least 500 Mbps.
Almost one-quarter (24%) of enterprises targeted advertising based on users' web content or searches.
For small enterprises (between 10 and 49 people employed), 38% had internet sales, compared with 51% of medium enterprises (between 50 and 249 people employed), and 54% of large enterprises.
More than one in ten (12%) of enterprises had a security incident leading to the temporary unavailability of ICT services in 2024.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (14 February 2025) released Information Society Statistics - Enterprises 2024.
Commenting on the release, Devin Zibulsky, Statistician in the Enterprise Statistics Division, said: "The Information Society Statistics - Enterprises (ISSE) 2024 results show the extent of digitalisation among Irish businesses. By surveying enterprises about a range of areas including internet access and use, e-commerce, ICT security, and artificial intelligence, the ISSE release gives a broad picture of the ways in which Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is used in business practices. Topics and items covered by the survey can change from year to year to reflect the development and emergence of new technologies and their role in business.
The 2024 results reflect the continued increase in the online presence among enterprises in Ireland and their use of data and technology. New modules are introduced each year and modules that have not been included may be re-introduced in future years. The 2024 survey included questions on Internet Access and Usage, E-Commerce, ICT Security, and Artificial Intelligence.
Internet Access and Usage
There was a wide range of fixed broadband speeds in Ireland in 2024, with 25% of enterprises having less than 100 Mbps, 27% having between 100 and 500 Mbps, and 34% having broadband faster than 500 Mbps.
More than four in ten (43%) enterprises paid to advertise on the internet in 2024, with nearly one-quarter (24%) using targeted advertising based on webpage content or users’ keyword searches.
ICT Security
One-third (33%) of enterprises offered voluntary ICT security training, one in four (25%) made ICT security training compulsory, while 35% included ICT security training as a contractual requirement of employment.
In 2024, 12% of enterprises experienced an unavailability of ICT services from either an unintentional cause or an intentional attack, while 2% experienced a destruction or corruption of data, and 2% experienced a disclosure of confidential data.
Artificial Intelligence
Overall, 15% of all enterprises used Artificial Intelligence (AI) in 2024, compared with 8% in 2023. The most common types of AI used were for natural language generation (7%) and data mining (7%).
Among large enterprises, more than half (51%) used AI, with 30% using it for automated workflows or decision making and 28% for data mining."