Sir, – I was alarmed to see the headline "Even Green Party voters are cool on many climate measures" and eagerly read the article (News, October 8th). However, it appeared to simply expose a survey that asked the same question repeatedly, namely "Would you like to pay a tax on X?". Not surprising that people are against that.
It would have been useful to have seen more variety in such a survey around climate change measures, such as support for sustainable town planning, increased use of public transport and more staycations. – Yours, etc,
CHRIS CUMMINS,
Dublin 16.
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Sir, – I am requested to complete customer satisfaction surveys on a regular basis from various different entities. What all these surveys have in common is a more sophisticated set of queries resulting in a more nuanced set of results than the results of the latest Irish Times poll. Surely a question asking are you opposed (instead of in favour) to higher taxes for XYZ, and to what extent in a five-point scale, would be far more revealing. – Yours, etc,
JAMES DINEEN,
Bishopstown,
Cork.
A chara, – Your opinion polls on climate action would have been more useful if they had reflected current policy questions – or the larger political questions.
For example, I’m not aware of any proposal to increase property tax on homes that are not energy efficient. But the new National Development Plan does propose that spending on public transport should be twice the level of spending on new roads. Do people support that?
The Towns First development model proposes that we should focus on building and renovating homes in towns, rather than building one-off rural housing.
Is that supported?
Your poll suggests that people do not want to see a reduction in “the national herd”. How do people feel about making agricultural grants more dependent on protecting biodiversity? Or offering more financial support to tillage farmers?
Finally, you might like to ask people about trade-offs, rather than isolated policies.
If people had to choose between, for example, an increase in the cost of motoring, or a reduction in dairy production, or failing to reduce emissions by 50 per cent by the end of the decade, which would they choose? – Is mise,
RAY CUNNINGHAM,
Walkinstown,
Dublin 12.