The business community is too powerfully represented in the Dáil, according to an opinion poll that gauged the public's attitude to democracy.
Some 53 per cent believe that managers and business owners are "most well represented", while just 0.1 per cent of people believe that carers are well represented.
Farmers are, according to 10 per cent of those polled by Lansdowne Market Research for the TASC opinion poll, well represented by TDs and senators.
Just 0.5 per cent believe that gays, lesbians and bisexuals are represented well by TDs and senators, while only 1 per cent believe that the voice of Travellers is well heard.
The poll showed that the Dáil is seen overwhelmingly as best representing the interests of business owners, farmers and men.
"The group seen as least represented in the Dáil, by a large margin, are people living in disadvantaged communities," according to an analysis of the poll written by Paula Clancy, Ian Hughes and Teresa Brannick.
"This finding, when taken with the concerns of the Irish public for an egalitarian society, suggests that, in its capacity to represent all constituents equally, the Dáil is not meeting its democratic task," they said.
Institutions once so dominant in society, such as the Catholic Church "are virtually dismissed as having a role in holding government to account" by those polled.
Nevertheless, 43 per cent lament the decline in the church's role, while just 26 per cent believe its fall in influence is a positive development.
"Those who thought it a bad thing were more likely to be older and have completed primary education only," said the poll analysis.
Predictably, the poll shows an urban/rural divide: 22 per cent in Dublin believe the church's fall is "a good thing" compared with 7 per cent in Connacht/Ulster and only 1 per cent in Munster.
Extraordinarily, the courts are not seen by any of those polled as having a role in restraining government.
People are divided in their attitudes towards foreign nationals coming to live here - 32 per cent believe it is a good thing, while 30 per cent say it is a bad thing.
