Reilly has lowest satisfaction rating in list of six Ministers

MINISTER FOR Health James Reilly attracts the lowest satisfaction rating in a list of six high-profile Ministers that voters were asked about in the latest Irish Times, Ipsos MRBI poll.

Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton heads the list, attracting an even higher rating than Minister for Finance Michael Noonan.

Voters were asked to say if they were satisfied or dissatisfied with the way six named Ministers were doing their job.

Mr Reilly came at the bottom of the list with just 13 per cent expressing satisfaction with his performance and 70 per cent saying they are dissatisfied. Some 17 per cent had no opinion.

Fine Gael voters were more supportive of the performance of the party deputy leader, with 29 per cent expressing satisfaction, but his rating was much lower among Labour voters.

Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan was the next lowest on the list with just 16 per cent satisfied, 52 per cent dissatisfied and 32 per cent having no opinion.

Unsurprisingly, Fine Gael voters were more supportive than the average but the real surprise was that Mr Hogan scored highest with the small number of Green Party voters, where he attracted a satisfaction rating of 60 per cent.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin did better with a satisfaction rating of 25 per cent and a dissatisfaction score of 46 per cent.

The surprise here was that Mr Howlin did very well among Fine Gael voters, where his satisfaction rating was 50 per cent, but among Labour voters it was just 31 per cent.

Minister for Justice Alan Shatter did better again with a satisfaction rating of 32 per cent and a dissatisfaction score of 38 per cent.

Among Fine Gael voters he had a very positive rating of 59 per cent satisfied as against 19 per cent who are dissatisfied. A majority of Labour voters is also satisfied with the way Mr Shatter is doing his job.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan attracts a higher satisfaction rating of 38 per cent, with 42 per cent saying they are dissatisfied. Among Fine Gael voters this jumps to a massive 72 per cent satisfaction rating, with just 20 per cent saying they were dissatisfied.

Mr Noonan did not score nearly as well with Labour voters, with 41 per cent expressing satisfaction while 37 per cent are dissatisfied.

The highest rating goes to Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton, who is the only one polled whose satisfaction rating exceeds her dissatisfaction rating. A total of 44 per cent said they were satisfied with her performance while 35 per cent said they were dissatisfied.

The remarkable thing about her performance is that she did significantly better among Fine Gael voters, where she has a satisfaction rating of 70 per cent, than she did among Labour supporters, where she is on 52 per cent. She was even in positive territory among Fianna Fáil voters, with more satisfied than dissatisfied, and it was only among Sinn Féin and Independent voters that she was in negative territory.