The Republic of Ireland has only slightly improved its position in a survey of countries which assesses the extent of perceived corruption in political and public life.
Ranking 17th in this year's Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, the Republic climbed only two places from last year's position of 19th, a ranking it now shares with the United States and Belgium.
Despite the slight rise, Ireland's score out of 10, remained unchanged this year at 7.5. The Republic scored 6.9 out of 10 in the 2002 index.
Finland held its place at the top of the index as the least corrupt country, the same position it held in 2003 and 2002. Britain is in 11th position one ahead of Canada.
Haiti and Bangladesh rank in joint 145th place, scoring the lowest, with only 1.5 out of 10, one point behind Nigeria which ranks in 144th place.
