Ireland moves up in world corruption rankings

Ireland has been ranked as the 16th least corrupt nation in a new survey which reveals that corruption in poor countries has created a humanitarian disaster which threatens to derail the global fight against poverty.

Releasing its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) today, the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International said donor countries should address the problem by carefully targeting aid.

The index ranks 180 countries according to perceived levels of public sector corruption. The CPI scores countries on a zero to 10 scale, with zero indicating high levels of corruption and 10, low levels.

Denmark defended its ranking as the world's least corrupt nation, alongside Sweden and New Zealand. All scored 9.3. Ireland was ranked in 16th place with a score of 7.7. Last year, Ireland achieved a score of 7.5 putting it in 17th place.

TI said the improvement in corruption rankings was important for a small open economy like Ireland’s since investor decisions are often made on the back of a country’s reputation for fair regulation and government transparency.

However, Ireland still lags way behind in the index from direct competitors for jobs and investment such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Finland and Denmark.

"The global financial crisis makes perceptions of corruption all the more significant for Ireland as countries' markets increasingly rely on investor trust. A continued gap in trust is going to cost our economy – in the long term it's going to cost us jobs," said Justin Keogan, chair of TI's Irish chapter.

The global index of expert and investor surveys on corruption shows that while Ireland’s standing has improved marginally over the past year, its nearest neighbour Britain has suffered one of the biggest drops in the history of the influential benchmark. Ireland’s ranking experienced a similar fall six years ago as evidence emerged of secret payments to Charles Haughey and other politicians.

John Devitt Chief Executive of TI Ireland claimed the British Government's decision to block an investigation into alleged billion dollar bribes to Saudi officials had badly damaged the UK's reputation for fair play.

"Corruption and cover-ups are picked up by international investors like sharks smelling blood," said Mr Devitt. "The dramatic fall in the UK's score is a likely sign of investor concerns about alleged corruption in Britain's aerospace industry, and lax controls on political funding," he added.

For the second year running, Somalia and Burma received the poorest marks, each scoring 1.4, just below Iraq on 1.5.

Transparency International (TI) chair Huguette Labelle called the high levels of corruption in low-income countries a "humanitarian disaster".

"Stemming corruption requires strong oversight through parliaments, law enforcement, independent media and a vibrant civil society," Labelle said in a statement.

"When these institutions are weak, corruption spirals out of control with horrendous consequences for ordinary people, and for justice and equality in societies more broadly."

The Berlin-based watchdog estimated that unchecked levels of corruption would add $50 billion -- or nearly half of annual global aid outlays -- to the cost of achieving the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals on combating poverty.

It urged a more focused and coordinated approach by the global donor community to ensure assistance strengthens institutions of governance and oversight in recipient countries.

TI also singled out the performance of some wealthy exporting countries which saw their scores decline from 2007, saying continued evidence of foreign bribery scandals suggested a broader failure by developed nations.

It said statistically significant declines were seen in 2008 in Bulgaria, Burundi, Maldives, Norway as well as the UK.

Significant improvements were seen in Albania, Cyprus, Georgia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey.

Additional reporting: Reuters