The national Internet watchdog receives one alert per day about child pornography websites.
More than 670 complaints were received by the www.hotline.ie service in the two years following its establishment in November 1999. Some of the websites were discovered accidentally by children as young as 10.
The disturbing ease with which youngsters can access pornographic images was revealed by the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Ms Mary Hanafin, at the publication of the watchdog's first annual report yesterday.
She said one in three Irish 10-year-olds was a regular Internet user, but one in four parents reported feeling helpless to control their children's use of the medium.
The hotline service offers parents advice about computer software which can be installed to filter out pornography. The Minister said, however, that parents should not be intimidated by the technology. "Basic rules still apply. Parents must set rules for Internet use."
Simple guidelines included locating the computer in a shared family room such as the living room, where parents could monitor what their children were seeing. Children should also be warned never to divulge personal details on-line and should be encouraged to report any material which made them feel uncomfortable, the Minister added.
The Government used the publication of the figures to announce new codes of practice for Irish Internet service providers.
The move is part of an EU-wide drive to encourage self-regulation by the Internet industry and force pornographers out of the medium.
"Service providers in each country can work to try to ensure we can find the source of these sites, which are very offensive, and that people can be charged," the Minister said.
The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children welcomed the new code.