Dr. Elaine Byrne:

Yes. There were similar falls in the level of trust in other countries like Spain and Greece where they had a deep financial collapse. I will point again to the mismatch between the perception in Ireland of corruption and how we compared to other countries. In a survey last year for the European Commission European consultants found that 81% of Irish people believed corruption was widespread. Some 24% believe the Government's efforts to combat corruption are effective. I guess this comes back to the analogy I often use about shoes and shoelaces. In many ways, Ireland has some of the best legislation in the world on governance and ethics. America and the United Kingdom would give their right arm for the limits on political donations we have and Exchequer funding for political parties. The US President's recent appointee as ambassador to Ireland is a political appointment, as all appointees are. Such a concept would be alien to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. There are lots of things where Ireland stands head and shoulders above other countries when it comes to the legislative framework we have in place. I argue that new shoes are no good unless one has tied the shoelaces. Despite having very good shoes, or good legislation, what happens is that we trip over the small things. We trip over implementation, perception and culture, which is quite frustrating.