A new EU survey has found 86 per cent of Irish people consider the agricultural sector to be important to the country’s economic future.
The figure represents an increase of 10 per cent over a similar Eurobarometer survey two years ago.
The survey - conducted between November and December of last year by TNS MRBI – showed 48 per cent of respondents regarded farming as “very important” to Ireland’s economy. A further 38 per cent said it was “important”.
The survey found on average 90 per cent of Europeans either thought support for agriculture was “important” or “very important”.
In all, 1014 face to face interviews were taken to compile the results in Ireland
The survey also found 62 per cent of Irish people have knowledge of the Common Agricultural Policy. This is the third highest in Europe after France and Lithuania, two other countries with a strong agricultural tradition.
Across Europe, the survey found people place a higher importance on the quality, healthiness and safety of food (59 per cent), over price (49 per cent) or even food security (25 per cent).
In Ireland, however, 61 per cent thought ensuring a fair standard of living for our farmers was more of a priority. This was second in the EU after Romania.
The Irish surveyed said they thought the Common Agricultural Policy was doing a much better job than two years ago, with 58 per cent saying it had helped secure food supply, a growth of 13 points on two years ago.
Some 58 per cent of European respondents said they would be willing pay 10 per cent more for agricultural products if they are produced in a way that did not increase climate change. In Ireland this figure was just 42 per cent, the second lowest in Europe.
The findings were welcomed by Irish farming organisations.