New figures show that companies that applied for loan finance had a success rate of 90% in 2007 but this dropped to 50% in 2010.
The new figures from the Central Statistics Office said that 37% of all business applied for loans in 2007 but this fell to 31% last year.
Today's 'Access to Finance' figures noted that most sectors saw a drop in the number of loan applications between 2007 and 2010 with the biggest drop seen in the construction sector.
The CSO says the main reason for banks for refusing loans in 2007 were lack of capital and insufficient or risky potential. In 2010, the most common reason was that businesses had too much debt.
The percentage of applications that were not given a reason by the banks for loans being turned grew to 19% in 2010, from 9% in 2007.
Of all the businesses surveyed, 65% said their financial situation had worsened in the years from 2007 and 2010. 61% said that banks were less willing to provide finance.
