The Republic boasts fewer female entrepreneurs than other European Union states, according to a new study.

Women make up just 15 per cent of self-employed people here, a figure below most European countries and developed nations such as the US, Japan and Canada.

The biggest share of female entrepreneurs recorded in the European Union was 41 per cent - in Portugal. Austria and France were both ranked joint second at 34 per cent, according to the European Commission's enterprise policy scorecard for 2001.

Luxembourg was the only EU state not included in the survey. The Republic, Greece and Denmark proved the laggards of Europe, scoring 15, 20 and 21 per cent respectively. Canada and the US both scored highly in the survey, with female entrepreneurs recorded at 37 and 35 per cent.

The low share of female entrepreneurs in the Republic may reflect cultural attitudes and other gender-specific constraints which limit occupation options for women, according to the commission study.

Ms Gillian Bowler, president of the Institute of Directors, said she was not surprised at the findings as there was a trend away from setting up new businesses.

"I think the level of entrepreneurship is going down and not up, due to the amount of jobs available at good salary levels," said Ms Bowler.

She said people were often not willing to take the risk of setting up their own businesses during periods of economic growth, when graduates could earn as much as £25,000 (€31,743) at entry level.

This decline in entrepreneurship would have a negative impact 10 years down the line as there would be less new indigenous businesses created, she added. But Ms Bowler said the share of female entrepreneurs would probably be prevalent if the study only assessed women of a younger age group - as many older women came from a generation when they would not have worked outside of the home.

The commission survey, which was conducted by the OECD, measured the share of female entrepreneurs during the 1980s and 1990s in some states. But there were no figures available for the Republic during the 1980s. These figures show that the share of female entrepreneurs in the EU has grown steadily since the 1970s, and is now above 35 per cent.

Within the EU, Germany, Sweden, Finland and France all recorded a drop in the share of female entrepreneurs since the 1980s. The share increased in Greece, Italy, the UK, Spain and Belgium. The commission concluded that the rankings proved women were under-represented among entrepreneurs, and that Europe was not yet exploiting the full entrepreneurial potential of its population.

The Commission has started a benchmarking project on female entrepreneurship, with results expected next autumn.