Irish political parties are the least trusted sector according to TI Global Corruption Barometer 2005

• Full Press Release Ireland
• International Press Release on the Global Corruption Barometer
• International Report on the Global Corruption Barometer

The Irish public believe that political parties are the most corrupt institutions in the state, according to a worldwide public survey published today by Transparency International (TI) to mark International Anti-Corruption Day.

The Global Corruption Barometer rated political parties as the least trusted sector with a score of 3.7 out of 5. A score of 1 denotes a sector or institution which is seen as very clean compared to a score of 5 which indicates a sector or institution as highly corrupt.

Political parties were followed in order by the Judiciary/Legal System, Dáil Éireann, and the private sector as most prone to corruption.

Conversely trust in An Garda Síochána and the medical services has increased over the past twelve months.

Irish respondents also appear to be amongst the most optimistic that levels of corruption will decrease in the next three years. They also were amongst the least likely to pay or be solicited for a bribe.

Only 1 per cent of respondents claim to have paid a bribe in the past year, while 28 per cent of respondents believing that corruption will decrease a little or a lot compared to a worldwide average of 19 per cent. However the latter figure is down 10 per cent from last year, when 38 per cent of the Irish public believed that levels of corruption would improve.

The Global Corruption Barometer was carried out by Gallup International among more than 55,000 people worldwide to assess public perceptions and experiences of corruption. It is used widely to gauge the effectiveness and public awareness of efforts to combat corruption.

The Global Corruption Barometer is distinct from the Corruption Perceptions Index which is also conducted by Transparency International and used to evaluate expert and business attitudes to corruption.