Credit Unions have been named the most reputable organisation in Ireland for the second year running and An Post has been found to be the most reputable organisation of the past 15 years in the latest RepTrak study from the Reputations Agency.
The Credit Unions received a reputation score of 84.2 in the 2024 study and was the only enterprise to achieve an ‘Excellent’ score while ranking first in four out of seven categories – citizenship, conduct, products & services and workplace.
In the study based on the perceptions of over 5,000 members of the public, credit unions was also the most reputable in secondary metrics such as ‘Trust to do the right thing’, ‘Fair in the way it does business’, and ‘Ethical, open & transparent’.
“Topping Ireland RepTrak for the second year in a row is a significant achievement for the credit union sector.
“It is a recognition of the role that we play in communities across Ireland and the trust and esteem in which people hold credit unions,” said David Malone, CEO of the Irish League of Credit Unions.
“We are delighted with the results, which positions us as a leader amongst the most prominent organisations and household names in Ireland.
“This recognition proves to us that our constant focus on improving both the face-to-face in branch experience and our digital and online engagements is delivering.”
An Post, which ranked in the top 10 a total of 12 times over the past 15 years, scored a ‘Strong’ 78 for the period of 2010 to 2024, and was found to act in the common good and improve the quality of life of every community in Ireland.
The group was also recognised for its transition to becoming a more sustainable business and for its shift into e-commerce and financial services.
“We have transformed An Post to become a sustainable, commercial public service, with no recourse to state subsidy, successfully delivering in a new world of eCommerce and financial services,” said David McRedmond, CEO of An Post.
“Central to this has been building our reputation with purpose-driven actions to ensure that we have a positive influence on society.
“Our determination to bring our purpose to life has had a positive impact on our reputation, our business and our team of over 9,000 staff working in retail, mail, ecommerce and expert corporate roles across the country.”
Respondents were questioned about the level of trust, respect, admiration and esteem they had for 100 of the largest, most familiar and important organisations in Ireland from 2 January to 11 March.
Lidl placed second in the 2024 study with a score of 79.2, achieving its highest ranking after jumping from ninth in 2023, and the supermarket chain was first for ‘Offering good value for money’ and second in both ‘Trust’ and ‘Open and transparent’.
Boots Ireland came third (79), up from eighth last year, and ranked first in propensity to ‘Buy from’ and second in ‘Conduct’ and ‘Fair in the way it does business’, demonstrating high levels of public trust in the business.
An Post came in fourth with 78.7 ahead of Toyota (77.7), Samsung (77.3), Mater Private (77.3), Fáilte Ireland (77.1), Revolut (76.9), and Blackrock Healthcare Group (76.9).
Uiscé Eireann (Irish Water) had the largest increase in reputation, improving by close to 44 points since the RepTrak started tracking the company in 2015 at the height of the protests against water charges.
Vhi has improved its score by 34, moving from the ‘Weak’ tier in 2010 to ‘Strong’ in 2024 while Virgin Media has gained 29 points and risen from ‘Weak’ to ‘Moderate’ in the process.
RTÉ has suffered the largest reputational decline over the past 15 years, dropping 23 points and falling from 67th place in 2010 to 99th, only ahead of X/Twitter.
The broadcaster suffered its biggest hit in the past year in the wake of the payments scandal and questions of its governance.
X scored a ‘Poor’ 34.9 while RTÉ (41.2) was one of 11 organisations whose reputation was judged as ‘Weak’ alongside the similarly besieged An Bord Pleanála (42.1) and the FAI (44.0).
Niamh Boyle, CEO of The Reputations Agency, said weak corporate governance had had a devastating impact on stakeholder support for RTÉ over the past year as well as sales of TV licences, sponsorship and advertising.
Consumer’s propensity to ‘Trust, recommend, work for or give the benefit of the doubt’ to RTÉ has fallen by close to 50% year-on-year.
Similarly, perceptions of weak corporate governance have hamstrung the FAI’s efforts to rebuild its reputation following the John Delaney debacle.
Other companies with ‘Weak’ scores in 2024 are Meta (47.8), the HSE (51.4), Úisce Éireann (53.1), Eir (54.2), Sky Ireland (57.5), the Central Bank (59.3), Maxol (59.5) and Texaco (59.5).
The three retail banks — AIB (64.2), Bank of Ireland (64.1) and PTSB (63.9) all scored ‘Average’ as did mobile network operators Vodafone (61.5) and Three (60.5), and energy providers ESB (69.5), Electric Ireland (67.2), Energia (65.9), and Bord Gáis Energy (65.4) and SSE Airtricity (64.1).
The major supermarket chains also received ‘Strong’ scores led by Lidl, SuperValu (76.4) and Aldi, along with Dunnes Stores (74.0), Tesco (73.5) and Marks & Spencer (73.1) and Centra (72.0).
While food and drink groups like Kerry (72.9), Glanbia (71.9) and Diageo (70.0) scored well.
State agencies and companies like Bord Bia (76.0), Tourism Ireland (74.4), IDA Ireland (72.4), Coillte (72.2), Irish Rail (71.7) and EirGrid (70.4) also scored ‘Strong’ while Enterprise Ireland (69.4), Dublin Airport (69.2), the GAA (67.6), Gas Networks Ireland (67.2), Bord na Móna (66.7), Dublin Bus, (66.1) Bus Éireann (65.6), DAA (64.3) were marked ‘Average’.
Photo: Niam Boyle (left) and David Malone (second right). (Pic: Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland)