Citizens far from inspired by handling of economic crisis

ANALYSIS:A decisive majority of voters support the Government's plans to abolish the Seanad, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll.

When asked how they would vote in the referendum to abolish the Seanad planned for later this year, 58 per cent of respondents said they intended to vote Yes, 20 per cent said they would vote No and 22 per cent had no opinion or would not vote.

When undecided voters are excluded the percentage who would vote Yes was 74 per cent, with 26 per cent saying they would vote No.

Public not impressed

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has committed himself to holding a referendum on the issue in the autumn.

The survey was undertaken on February 4th and 5th, among a representative sample of 1,000 voters aged 18 and over in face-to-face interviews at 100 sampling points in all constituencies.

The margin of error is plus or minus 3 per cent.

The poll also shows that the public is not impressed with the way a range of institutions and interest groups have handled the economic crisis.

The EU-ECB-IMF troika fares worst and the private sector comes out best in response to which institutions have made a positive or negative contribution to handling the economic crisis.

The Government fares poorly, as does the media, with the Opposition parties coming out even worse in terms of the contribution made to dealing with the problem.

The public sector comes out well, just behind the private in terms of making a positive contribution to getting the country out of the crisis.

Asked to rate seven institutions or interest groups, the private sector comes out best with 33 per cent of people saying it had made a positive contribution and 39 per cent saying it was negative.

The public sector came next with a 31 per cent positive rating and 42 per cent saying it had made a negative contribution.

The Government and the media were rated in next place with 26 per cent saying they had made a positive contribution. In terms of a negative rating the Coalition came out worst at 59 per cent while the media did a little better, with 49 per cent saying it had made a negative contribution to dealing with the crisis.

The trade unions were rated positive by just 22 per cent, with 45 per cent saying they had played a negative role. But the Opposition parties fared worse, with just 20 per cent saying they had played a positive role and 50 per cent negative.

The troika came at the bottom of the list, with 19 per cent saying they had made a positive contribution and 47 per cent negative.

Fine Gael supporters were easily the most supportive of the Government, with 76 per cent saying it had made a positive contribution and just 15 per cent negative.

The picture was different among Labour Party backers, with just 32 per cent positive and 43 per cent negative.

This divergence between supporters of the two Government parties was also in evidence in response to a question about whether people felt more confident, the same or less confident about the State’s future since the Coalition took office almost two years ago.

In class terms

The overall figures showed that just 15 per cent of people feel more confident, 32 per cent feel about the same and 47 per cent feel less confident.

Fine Gael voters are by far the most positive with 48 per cent expressing more confidence since the Coalition took office, 34 per cent about the same and just 16 per cent less confident.

By contrast just 23 per cent of Labour supporters were more confident, 42 per cent about the same and 35 per cent less confident.

In class terms the best-off AB group were the most confident about the State’s future under the Coalition, while the poorest DE category were least confident.

On talks to extend the Croke Park deal, a small majority are in favour of extending it with a 38 per cent approval rating; 35 per cent say it should lapse, while 27 per cent have no opinion.

Fine Gael supporters were the most strongly in favour of extending it, but Labour supporters were surprisingly lukewarm.