Irish companies consider corruption to be far less of a problem in doing business than most of their European counterparts, according to the findings of a new survey by the European Commission.

The Eurobarometer poll of more than 7,700 companies across 28 EU member states, including 180 from the Republic, showed that 11 per cent of companies here cited corruption as a problem when doing business compared to the EU average of 37 per cent.

It was the third-lowest level in the EU after Denmark and Estonia. Irish companies rated inadequate infrastructure and the lack of means or procedures to recover debt as the most pressing difficulties they faced in their operations.

However, tax rates, fast-changing legislation and policies, and the complexity of administrative procedures were considered the most common problems when doing business across the EU as a whole.

The results indicate that the fewer businesses both in Ireland and the EU consider corruption a problem than when a similar survey was carried out in 2017.

The latest findings show 33 per cent of companies believed corruption was widespread in Ireland – down from 40 per cent two years ago. Across the EU, 63 per cent of businesses regard it as a widespread issue – a decrease of four percentage points.

Irish companies regarded the favouring of family members or friends as the most common type of corruption here – a problem cited by 50 per cent of all respondents.

The funding of political parties in exchange for public contracts or influence in policy-making was considered problematic by 31 per cent of Irish companies with “kickbacks” cited as widespread by 27 per cent.

Family and friends

No Irish company surveyed said they had been asked to give a gift or favour or extra money in return for getting some type of permit, licence or State aid. In 2017, 9 per cent said they had experienced some form of corruption of that type.

However, some 13 per cent of Irish companies said they thought corruption had prevented them from winning a public tender or public procurement contract in the previous three years. The EU average was 30 per cent.

A majority of businesses both in Ireland and the EU believe people and businesses caught for bribing a senior official are not appropriately punished, with most believing that those engaged in corrupt practices will not be caught or reported to police or likely to be fined or imprisoned.

The European Commission said that although corruption could differ in its nature and scope between different EU member states, it harmed the union as a whole by lowering investment levels, hampering the fair operation of the internal market, and reducing public finances.

The survey found a wide variation between businesses in EU member states in terms of corruption, with 88 per cent of companies in Romania seeing it as a problem compared to just 5 per cent in Denmark.

A majority of companies in 22 of the 28 EU member states believed corruption was widespread in their country with the highest levels recorded in Romania, Greece, Portugal, Croatia and Italy.

Favouring family members of friends in business or public institutions was considered the most common corrupt practice in the EU.