A new report ranks Ireland among the easiest countries in the world in which to set up an untraceable shell company.
Corporations which have anonymous and untraceable owners are often used by criminals and terrorist organisations to launder money.
It is illegal under Irish and international law to set up such a company but new research published by researchers at Griffith University in Australia found the rules on company formation are often not being enforced in practice.
The researchers contacted 3,700 corporate service providers in 62 countries enquiring about setting up shell companies.
They posed as business consultants looking to form a company on behalf of a client.
In some cases the researchers sent emails designed to appear to corporate service providers as "high risk", for example because they were sent from countries known to have links to global terrorism or because they were looking for complete anonymity and were unwilling to provide confirmation of their identities.
Just under half the responses they received indicated the providers were happy to set up a company without seeking proper documentation as required by both domestic and international law.
Ireland was ranked 56th out of the 62 countries for the apparent ease with which researchers were able to find a provider willing to set up an untraceable shell company.
In a statement issued to RTÉ News in response to the report's findings, the Department Of Justice said it carries out inspections to ensure providers are complying with the law.
The Department said that of 250 trust and company service providers authorised by the Minister for Justice in Ireland, 80 have been inspected to date.
