One in five Irish employees would be prepared to pay a bribe or act unethically if they knew it would lead to a pay rise — while almost half of Irish employees believe corruption is widespread, a survey has found.

Eight hospitals, five of them taxpayer-funded, are under investigation amid claims staff got gifts from a medical supplies firm in return for contracts and commercially sensitive information.

IRELAND remains one of the most corrupt nations in the western world, a major international survey revealed yesterday.