IRISH companies take an average of 56 days to pay their bills. That is 17 days longer than allowed under the credit terms, according to a survey by Interface Business Information, a credit information company.

The worst sector is construction, which has traditionally taken the longest time to pay creditors. Construction companies are offered 44 days credit but take 63 days to make the payments. These payments are, in effect, three weeks overdue.

The best payers are computer companies which are, on average, 11 days late with their payments. The survey notes that computer companies contain a wide variety of payment patterns, with the larger companies having shorter delays than the smaller ones.

Interface Business Information says the delay in payments leads to "stagnation for companies, irregular cash flow which, in turn, restricts turnover, hinders expansion and thus affects the job creation potential of these firms".

It claims that between 5,000 and 8,000 jobs could be created immediately if 75 per cent of companies paid regularly within their credit terms.

Many companies, according to the survey, viewed the lack of Government intervention as being a contributor to the delays. Over three quarters of the respondents (76 per cent) said if the Government paid its bills on time there would be a knock on effect. They also believed that the planned EU legislation on late payments will have little or no impact on resolving the problem.

The survey revealed that 82 per cent of the companies had standard terms and conditions of sale. Of these, 73 per cent asked customers to sign them.

Over a third (38 per cent) offered their customers discounts for early payment and this was taken up by 31 per cent. The average bad debt write offs amounted to less than 1 per cent. Just under two thirds (65 per cent) used "formal methods" to obtain information on prospective customers.