IRELAND’S ECONOMY MAY be slowly be turning the corner, but Irish businesses are still finding it difficult to meet their obligations as they fall due.

Irish businesses are taking longer now to pay their bills than they were at this time last year, according to data published today by Experian, which said the average invoice being paid 27.55 days after being issued in the first half of this year.

By comparison, businesses in Northern Ireland were paying similar invoices around a week quicker.

The latest data indicates that the ‘payment performance’ of Irish companies is at its slowest now since November 2008, and that payment times hit a particular slump in March and April of this year.

Experian’s data also showed that the construction industry was the worst-performing sector in terms of meeting its obligations, with the average invoice going unpaid for 41.71 days, while the health sector was the quickest to pay at 14.46 days.

Businesses in county Kerry were the quickest to meet their obligations, taking 20.74 days, while those in Waterford took the longest – with the average invoice going unpaid for 43.35 days.