This might surprise some people.
Irish citizens have been intensely focused on Dáil Éireann as Budget 2017 has been announced and while certain aspects of it have been criticised – pensions and minimum wage being two – it’s fair to say that the Irish electorate still has faith in the coalition government that they elected seven months ago.
Granted, politics will always lead itself to accusations of corruption, lies and scandal – the Mahon and Moriarty tribunals are testament to this – but according to a recent study, Ireland ranks quite highly in terms of the world’s least corrupt countries.
Ireland is 8th on this list of 105 countries with Norway being the most law abiding country in the world.
The Index of Public Integrity assesses a society’s capacity to control corruption and ensure that public resources are spent without corrupt practices. The below graph is based on years of research and the evaluation of the efforts of different societies to make advances in the control of corruption, but what exactly are they looking for?
The categories are as follows;
1) Judicial independence – This captures the extent of impartial and non-corrupt judiciary systems that constitute legal constraints on government power and are thus key elements of effective control of corruption.
2) Administrative burden – This measures the extent of domestic bureaucratic regulation. Am excessive administrative burden and too many regulations open doors for discretion and red tape, thereby resulting in a high risk of corruption.
3) Trade openness – This measures the extent of regulation concerning a country’s external economic activity. Open countries can control corruption better by removing room for discretion at the level of administrative trade barriers and thus allowing free competition.
4) Budget transparency – This measures the extent and quality of public accessibility to the executive’s budget proposals in order to provide a control mechanism for discretionary public spending.
5) E-citizenship – This captures the ability of citizens to use online tools and social media and thus exercise social accountability. Internet media in general and social networks in particular are indispensable components of citizen empowerment.
6) Freedom of the press – This measures the degree of media independence resulting from a specific national legal, political and economic environment in which print, broadcast, and internet-based media operate.
Using these six categories, Ireland’s highest ranking is in trade openness (1st) but we’re at our weakest when it comes to e-citizenship and freedom of the press (both 8th position)
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