Dr. Elaine Byrne:

I think there is a perception in Ireland that Ireland is very corrupt. Having lived in Australia, Austria and the Czech Republic and travelled extensively, I think it is a perception that is often misplaced. I remember, when I was teaching in Trinity College, I asked my students to rank between 1 and 166, according to the transparency perception index, where they thought Ireland was and most people said Ireland was 150 or 140. I would reply, "So you are saying that Ireland is more corrupt than all of the African countries and countries that have had dictatorships and so forth". There is a misperception in Ireland about how corrupt we are. In comparative terms, which one can see in the table I have given at the end of my submission, Ireland ranks about the same as the UK, Germany and Belgium.