The Republic ranks 13th out of the world's 21 richest countries for the help its policies give to people in the developing world, a new index has shown.
The Commitment to Development Index shows that the Republic's position on development has improved slightly since 2003, helped in particular by its stance on the environment.
The index finds that the strongest Irish contribution to the development of poor countries comes through a high-quality foreign aid programme. The Republic's lack of arms exports to undemocratic governments is also highlighted.
The index was compiled by US think-tank the Centre for Global Development and Foreign Policy magazine. It assigns points in seven policy areas: aid, trade, investment, migration, environment, security and technology.
While the Republic is placed 13th, the top position goes to the Netherlands and the bottom spot to Japan. The US holds joint-13th position, while the UK is just ahead at 12th.
The Republic loses points because it is one of only two countries examined to have no national political risk agency. This means a low ranking for supporting investment in developing nations.
A further slip comes because the State is last in the rankings for government support for technology creation and dissemination.
The Netherlands claims its top position on the back of generous aid policies, falling greenhouse gas emissions and support for investment in developing countries.
The architect of the index, David Roodman, pointed out that the Dutch would have done even better if they had not been party to the EU's agricultural policies. These rules levy an effective 46 per cent tax on farm imports from poor countries, according to the analysis.
"The lives of a billion people could be improved in the next decade if rich countries reform their trade, migration and investment policies," said Mr Roodman.
