Almost a third of children are talking to strangers online every week.

New research shows 68% of children aged between 8 and 13 own their own smartphone, with a similar number (70%) using social media and messaging apps.

The CyberSafeIreland survey of over 5,000 children, parents and teachers shows that around 20% of 12-year-olds are spending four hours or more online daily.

Meanwhile, 18% of 8 to 13-year-old children are talking to strangers every day - a three-fold increase from last year - while 32% of children are talking to strangers online every week.

The survey found that 41% of 8 and 9 year-old-boys have played games for over-18s.

It also shows that 30% of children are rarely or never talking to their parents about online safety.

Alex Cooney from CyberSafeIreland says their annual report shows age restrictions on social media sites appear largely meaningless, and the Government has got to do more.

She argued: "It's really important that parents are checking in.

"Once kids are online, once they've got devices... parents do need to be checking in with them; making sure there's good ground rules around use; and having regular conversations about what the children are seeing and doing online."

On the increase in the number of children speaking to strangers, she added: "It's hard to say exactly why there's been such a stark increase.

"When we broke it down, the kids who were speaking to strangers every day were gaming, and many of them were also on social media."