The Credit Union is regarded by the public as the most reputable organisation in the country, new research shows.
The RepTrak report, which is now in its 14th year, examines the reputation of 100 well-known organisations and businesses in Ireland.
Published by communications group the Reputations Agency, the latest report compiles the views of 5,500 members of the public.
The data was gathered between January and February of this year.
Each organisation receives a score out of 100, with the Credit Union receiving the highest at 82.8.
"The public acknowledged the trust that members place in their local credit union and their friendly people-focused approach," the report states.
An Post came in second with a score of 80.8 and was recognised for "acting for the common good, improving the quality of life across communities in Ireland, and for its transformation towards a sustainable business."
Bord Bia ranked third, followed by Toyota and Blackrock Healthcare.
This year's study recorded the largest overall drop in reputation scores since the company started compiling the index.
The average score across the 100 organisations dropped by 3.7 points.
49 of the 100 organisations studied this year saw their scores drop, while only four improved their score.
The number of organisations with a score above 70 fell from 49 in 2022 to 28 in 2023, while just three received a score of over 80.
56 received a score of between 60-69, while 13 scored between 40-59.
Meta recorded the lowest score of 40.1, with its reputation most likely damaged by recent layoffs.
Of the 16 sectors covered in the study, two in particular have seen high levels of decline in both reputation and support over the last two years.
The infrastructure sector's reputation score fell from 70.8 to 60.5 - a 15% decline.
With this reputational decline, support also fell 31% in the willingness to work for the sector, 29% in propensity to trust to do the right thing and 22% in willingness to buy products or services from the sector.
Amid rising energy bills, the energy retail sector's reputation score fell from a score of 72.5 to 62.1 - a 14% drop.
Support across the sector fell by 24% in the willingness to work for the sector, 30% in propensity to trust to do the right thing and 33% in willingness to buy products or services from the sector.
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Today's report states that the perception of an organisation's workplace is strongly linked with the health of corporate reputation.
"The healthier your reputation, the more willing people will be to work for you," said Niamh Boyle, CEO, the Reputations Agency.
"Our research proves that every five-point gain in reputation score increases the public's propensity to work for your organisation by 4%.
"People are 12 times more likely to work for an organisation they believe has an excellent reputation than one they believe has a poor reputation," she added.
When those surveyed were asked which of the 100 companies they would like to work for, Google came out on top, followed by Toyota and Microsoft.
Respondents were also asked to score the organisations on their workplace reputation.
In this case, Bord Bia took first place, followed by Kerry Group and Boots.
