Poll finds most voters believe Budget will favour those on high incomes

Three in every four voters, 74 per cent, believe that people on high incomes will fare best from the Budget, according to the latest Irish Times/MRBI opinion poll published today. Three in every five voters, 62 per cent, think their standard of living will be unchanged by last week's Budget.

The main finding of the poll is that the biggest giveaway budget on record is having a negligible impact on voting intentions. The Labour Party is the only party to show a significant shift in support, up three percentage points to 13 per cent, since the party's change of leadership.

The state of the parties, excluding the 13 per cent undecideds, is: Fianna Fail 50 per cent, down one percentage point since October 22nd; Fine Gael 26 per cent, down one point; Labour 13 per cent, up three points; Progressive Democrats 3 per cent, up one point; Democratic Left 2 per cent, up one point; Green Party 2 per cent, down one point; Workers' Party 1 per cent, unchanged; Sinn Fein 1 per cent, down one point; and Others 3 per cent, up one point.

The poll was conducted among a sample of 1,000 voters at 100 sampling points throughout all constituencies in the State last Saturday, three days after £517 million in tax reductions were announced in Mr Charlie McCreevy's first budget.

Although the Budget is having a minimal impact on people's voting intentions, the Government's satisfaction rating has increased by 10 points to 65 per cent since late October. The level of dissatisfaction has dropped, by nine points to 26 per cent.

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, is experiencing another rise in his personal rating, 74 per cent, up seven points since late October. The standing of the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, has increased to 60 per cent, up four points. The rating for the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, is 50 per cent, up seven points. The DL leader, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, has a rating of 53 per cent, up seven points.

The level of satisfaction with the new Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, is 57 per cent, up six percentage points on Mr Dick Spring's rating in October. There is also a message for Mr Quinn from Labour supporters - 67 per cent are satisfied with his leadership, 6 per cent are dissatisfied, with 27 per cent undecided.

Just over one-quarter of voters, 27 per cent, think their standard of living will rise as a result of the Budget. Some 30 per cent of ABC1 voters came within this category. The majority of voters, 62 per cent, believe their standard of living will remain the same. Some 9 per cent of voters think that their standard of living will fall.

The poll also shows that almost three out of four people (73 per cent) do not believe the level of crime has dropped in the six months since the ail/Progressive Democrat Coalition came to power.

Some 21 per cent said they thought crime had fallen. In Dublin, the percentage who said they did not believe crime had fallen was 62 per cent.