A record 41 Irish towns have been declared 'litter free' in the latest survey by Irish Business Against Litter.
However, none of Ireland's major cities were considered clean to European norms.
Wexford is Ireland's cleanest town, according to this survey, ahead of Ennis, while Athlone and Mallow are the country's litter blackspots.
But Irish cities do not fare so well - Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford are all graded 'littered' and Galway 'moderately littered'.
Inspectors found the main culprits were supermarket car parks, with Tesco, Dunnes and Costcutter the main magnets for litter in different areas.
The IBAL group says it is concerned that local councils are cutting back by as much as €750 per week on their cleaning budgets, and how this will impact on tourism.
