Ireland is experiencing a profound and continuing trust crisis in business and government, according to the findings of a newly published survey.
The Edelman Trust Barometer found that Ireland was the only country surveyed that experienced declines in trust across all four institutions - business, government, media and NGOs.
Trust in government and business in Ireland is the lowest in Europe. Trust in business fell from 38 per cent in 2009 to 31 per cent in this year's survey. This is substantially lower than the global average of 50 per cent.
Trust levels in the political process is little better at an all-time low of 28 per cent - down from 31 per cent against a global average of 49 per cent.
Countries such as the US, Sweden and France experienced an increase in levels of trust, further underlining a deep institutional scepticism in Ireland.
Mark Cahalane, Managing Director, Edelman, said; “Ireland is experiencing a trust crisis which is different to the experience in other countries. Our scepticism is deep rooted and pervasive.
"While other countries are beginning to see increasing levels of institutional trust as their economies creep out of recession, we in Ireland have lost confidence in more institutions than ever before.”