Concerns about low broadband penetration at Irish businesses are overdone, according to the chief executive of IDA Ireland.

Seán Dorgan was responding to a question from Fine Gael TD Pat Breen at yesterday's Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business on whether poor broadband access was deterring foreign investors from creating jobs in Ireland.

"The statistics he refers to are for broadband in the home," Mr Dorgan said. "But in business we rank very well. Some areas are lacking, so we would be keen to see higher broadband rates."

Some 40 per cent of medium-sized companies have broadband access, compared with more than 90 per cent in Denmark, a Forfás report has shown. The Republic ranks 16th out of 20 OECD countries in broadband subscribers.

Mr Dorgan was addressing scepticism over whether small Irish towns are receiving enough support from IDA Ireland. Towns such as Tuam and Gort are missing out on foreign direct investment, some committee members argued. "Does the IDA have any relevance to Galway East?" independent TD Paddy McHugh asked Mr Dorgan.

"What the hell are you doing about the regions? I come here every year and go away deflated."

Mr Dorgan said there should be a "regional effort" to attract foreign companies and that competition between politicians' constituencies was not helpful.