A SUBSTANTIAL majority of voters are opposed to reductions in welfare payments or the taxation of child benefit in the forthcoming budget, according to the latest Irish Times/ TNS mrbi poll.
However, the poll also shows that voters strongly favour cuts in public spending rather than tax increases as the best way of dealing with the crisis in the public finances.
When asked if social welfare benefits should be cut in the budget, 75 per cent of voters said they should not, compared with 21 per cent who said they should. Just 4 per cent had no opinion.
On the taxation of child benefit, 71 per cent said the payment should not be taxed while 24 per cent said it should and 5 per cent had no opinion.
Asked if they regarded child benefit as a special State payment to women in recognition of their role as mothers, 61 per cent said they did while 31 per cent did not; 66 per cent of women took this view while among men it was 56 per cent.
The latest poll was taken on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week among a representative sample of 1,000 voters in face-to-face interviews at 100 sampling points in all 43 constituencies. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 per cent. In spite of the strong opposition to welfare cuts and the taxing of child benefit, 70 per cent of voters said the Government should put the emphasis on cuts in the budget. Just 14 per cent favoured an emphasis on tax increases as the best way of dealing with the crisis in the public finances.
Supporters of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were equally strong in their preference for spending cuts while Labour and Green voters were less enthusiastic. Sinn Féin voters were most strongly opposed.
Ironically, the strongest support for putting the emphasis on tax increases came from the wealthiest AB social group, who already pay a higher proportion of their income in tax than any other category.
The strongest opposition to tax increases came from the middle and lower-middle C1 and C2 social groups who want the emphasis to be placed on spending cuts.
When asked if the Government should put the emphasis on pay cuts or redundancies in order to reduce the public sector pay bill, voters favoured salary reductions by a margin of more than two to one.
In class terms there was a significant difference between the best-off AB voters with 34 per cent of them in favour of welfare cuts, by contrast with the poorest DE voters with just 9 per cent support for cuts.
On the question of whether or not child benefit should be taxed in the budget the best-off AB social group were most strongly in favour while the DE category was most strongly against.
Unsurprisingly, voters in receipt of child benefit were more opposed to it being taxed than those who do not receive it.