Independent TD Shane Ross has described the amount of money spent by state and semi-state bodies on public relations as “totally and utterly excessive” after it was revealed that Irish Water — which has 11 in-house communications staff — availed of the services of five private PR firms.

Dublin has dropped seven places in a measure of the world’s most reputable cities but still outranks the likes of Berlin, Washington DC and Hong Kong.

Irish grocery retailer, SuperValu, is the most reputable Irish brand, according to the results of the annual Ireland RepTrak 2014 study announced by The Reputations Agency today.