A national opinion poll conducted for the Oireachtas Commission has found a worrying degree of ignorance among the public about the work politicians do, although most people believe they work hard.
The poll was part of an information-gathering exercise by the commission, which runs the Dáil and the Seanad, to establish how the media, the public and the politicians themselves regard their work.
The poll, carried out by TNS/mrbi among 1,000 respondents in all 43 constituencies, found 53 per cent of people did not feel well-informed about the work of the Oireachtas, 42 per cent did and 5 per cent had no opinion. Asked if the Oireachtas was efficient, 43 per cent said no, while 39 per cent said yes and 18 per cent had no opinion.
Questioned about the role of the Oireachtas, 31 per cent thought it was governing the country, 18 per cent said passing legislation, 11 per cent opted for serving people and 20 per cent didn't know.
Respondents were also asked what they thought was more important: the number of days the Dáil and Seanad sat or the amount of work done by TDs and Senators. A total of 75 per cent said the actual work done by politicians was more important.
On whether politicians work hard, 54 per cent of people said they did, while 39 per cent said they did not and 7 per cent had no opinion. The public is split evenly on whether they want to know more about the work of the Oireachtas, with 49 per cent saying yes and 49 per cent saying no.
Paul McGrath, chairman of the subcommittee that commissioned the research, said it highlighted the need for a more open system so that people could be made aware of the work politicians did and how they were paid. A decision had already been taken to publish regularly details of politicians' expenses.
"What we would like to do is issue a three-monthly bulletin including details of the pay and expenses of all TDs and Senators. We will also publish details of the work done by the Dáil and the Seanad and the various committees so that the public can see what the Oireachtas is doing," he said.
Another subcommittee member, Senator Joe O'Toole, said the survey results were reasonably positive but they showed the public needed more information.
"We will continue to give hostages to fortune unless we provide people with the maximum possible amount of information," he said.