Almost eight in ten respondents (78.7%) reported they trusted most people in 2025, down from 82.5% in 2023.
Under six in ten respondents (57.4%) trusted international organisations in 2025, down from 63.7% in 2023.
Younger respondents were more likely to trust the electoral system than older respondents, with 82.8% of those aged 18 to 29 years trusting the electoral system, compared with 76.9% of those aged 50 years and over.
Almost four in ten (37.2%) men were satisfied with the healthcare system, compared to less than three in ten women (27.4%) in 2025.
Four in ten (39.0%) respondents thought it likely that the government would provide appropriate support to affected people in the event of an economic crisis, while just under half (48.1%) of respondents thought it unlikely.
Almost two-thirds of men (63.7%) and half of women (49.1%) reported that they understood the term Artificial Intelligence (AI) well and could explain it to others in 2025.
Half of respondents (49.9%) were not confident in the government’s future use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in providing services that are better tailored to individual needs, while 33.0% were confident.
Respondents to the Trust Survey 2025 were asked to rate their trust in people, government, and public institutions on a scale of 0 (Not at all) to 10 (Completely). In line with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) recommended groupings, trust levels were grouped as Don’t trust (0-4), Neutral (5), or Trust (6-10). In addition to questions on interpersonal and institutional trust, respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction levels with specific public services on a similar scale of 0 (Not at all satisfied) to 10 (Completely satisfied). Satisfaction levels were grouped as Not satisfied (0-4), Neutral (5), or Satisfied (6-10). Mean trust and satisfaction scores were calculated by adding individual scores and dividing the total by the number of individuals.
This was the third round of the Trust survey with the first round taking place in 2021. The 2023 and 2025 Trust Surveys incorporated changes to the methodology applied in the 2021 survey. More information on the methodology is available in our Background Notes.
Statistics are available by gender, age group, level of education attained, employment status, voting status in the last election, and NUTS 2 region. Please see Data chapter.
Ireland was a participant country in the 2021, 2023, and 2025 rounds of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD's) ‘Trust Survey’. The Trust Survey monitors people’s self-reported interpersonal trust and trust in different institutions and levels of government across OECD countries. In addition to questions on interpersonal and institutional trust, respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction levels with specific public services, their expectations of public services, their opinions on voting and participation in politics and artificial intelligence (AI) and government use.
Ireland was one of 38 countries that participated in the 2025 round of the ‘Trust Survey’. The OECD is expected to publish intercountry results from this survey on 29 June 2026. In Ireland, an online survey took place between the 29 September 2025 and the 15 November 2025.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (29 June 2026) published results from the Trust Survey 2025.
Commenting on today’s release, Sarah Crilly, Statistician in the Social Cohesion and Sustainable Development Goals Division, said:
“This is the third Trust Survey with previous surveys conducted in 2023 and 2021. Respondents to the Trust Survey 2025 were asked to rate their trust in people, government, and public institutions on a scale of 0 (Not at all) to 10 (Completely). In this release, trust levels were grouped as Don’t trust (0-4), Neutral (5), or Trust (6-10) (See Editor’s Note below for more details on methodology).
Overall, when it comes to trust, our analysis shows that a higher percentage of respondents had trust in most people when compared with trust in other institutions that were included in the survey, such as political parties, the civil service, or the news media.
Trust in People and Organisations
In 2025, 78.7% of respondents trusted most people, down from 82.5% in 2023. Trust in the electoral system was ranked next highest in 2025 with 77.3% of respondents trusting the electoral system. The percentage of respondents who trusted the courts and the legal system (68.2%) and the Gardaí (69.5%) were similar in 2025 and were largely unchanged from 2023. Trust in the civil service was down from 66.5% in 2023 to 64.2% in 2025.
A similar proportion of respondents trusted the national government (43.8%), the local government (44.2%), the Oireachtas (45.9%), and the news media (46.0%). Levels of trust in the national government were higher among older respondents, with those aged 50 years and over more likely to report trust than younger age groups. However, trust among this cohort fell from 58.3% in 2023 to 51.1% in 2025. By comparison, trust among respondents aged 18 to 29 years increased from 31.4% to 36.3% during the same period, narrowing the gap between younger and older age groups.
Trust in international organisations, such as the United Nations, decreased from 63.7% in 2023 to 57.4% in 2025. The largest regional decline was seen in the Eastern and Midlands region, where the percentage of respondents expressing trust fell from 66.8% to 57.7% over the same period.
Satisfaction in Public Services
Survey respondents were asked to assess their satisfaction levels with the education system, the health system, and the quality of public administrative services. In both the 2023 and 2025 Trust Surveys, the highest rates of satisfaction were seen with the education system, at 69.9% and 69.2% respectively.
In 2025, the healthcare system saw the lowest rate of satisfaction with 32.3% of respondents reporting they were satisfied. However, this was an increase on the 2023 rate of 26.1%. Retired respondents were more likely to report satisfaction with the healthcare system (49.4%) compared with employed respondents (27.9%). Almost four in ten (37.2%) men were satisfied with the healthcare system, compared to less than three in ten (27.4%) women in 2025.
Government and Public Sector Behaviours
More than seven in ten respondents (71.6%) thought it likely that their application for a government benefit or service would be treated fairly, down from 73.6% in 2023. When respondents were asked if public sector employees would help them correct an error, rather than penalise them, if they made an honest mistake in an application, 54.4% of men considered it likely that public sector employees would help, compared with 40.3% of women.
A new question was introduced in 2025, asking if it was likely that a member of the Oireachtas would respond in a meaningful way if you contacted them on a policy issue that was important to you. Three in ten (30.5%) respondents thought it was likely that a member would reply in a meaningful way, while more than half (53.9%) thought it unlikely.
Three in ten (30.5%) respondents believed that the national government would regulate new technologies appropriately and help businesses and citizens use them responsibly. Two thirds (65.8%) of respondents thought it likely that personal data shared with a public agency, office or department would be used for legitimate purposes only.
Regarding government institutions readiness in a large-scale emergency, 53.9% of respondents believed that government institutions would be likely to protect people’s lives in a large-scale emergency, while 34.1% of respondents thought it unlikely.
A new question was introduced in 2025, asking respondents if they thought it likely that the national government would provide appropriate support to affected people in the event of an economic crisis. Four in ten (39.0%) respondents thought it likely and half (48.1%) thought it unlikely.
Respondents were asked if society’s needs changed, how likely is it that public services would adapt adequately to meet these needs. More than half (55.7%) of respondents considered it unlikely and 27.8% considered it likely.
Voting and Participation in Politics
Eight in ten (80.4%) men had trust in the electoral system, compared with 74.4% of women. Younger respondents were more likely to trust the electoral system than older respondents, with 82.8% of those aged 18 to 29 years trusting the electoral system, compared with 76.9% of those aged 50 years and over. Almost two-thirds (65.3%) of respondents were satisfied with how elections are managed in Ireland. Respondents were also asked whether they considered voting to be a duty or choice. Almost eight in ten (78.8%) of respondents considered voting to be a duty. This was higher for women, at 81.1%, compared with 76.5% for men.
In 2025, 58.0% of respondents were confident in their own ability to participate in politics while 32.7% of respondents believed that the political system allows people to have a say in what the government does. More than eight in ten (83.2%) respondents felt that voting in a referendum would influence government actions. Less than one in five (18.3%) respondents believed that posting or forwarding political content on social media would influence government.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Government Use
Respondents were asked about their familiarity with the term Artificial Intelligence (AI). More than half (56.1%) of respondents reported they understood it well and could explain it to others, while 41.9% had a general idea of what it means but might struggle to explain it. A difference was seen between men and women, with 63.7% of men and 49.1% of women reporting that they understood the term well and could explain it to others.
Respondents were asked about their level of confidence in government agencies' future use of AI to achieve certain outcomes. Respondents were asked to rate their confidence levels on a scale from ‘0 - Not at all confident' to '10 - Completely confident’. Responses were grouped as ‘Not confident (0-4)’, ‘Neutral (5)’, or ‘Confident (6-10)’. Half of respondents (49.8%) were not confident in the use of AI to reduce costs, while 36.2% were confident. Half of respondents (49.9%) were not confident in the government’s future use of AI in providing services that are better tailored to individual needs, while 33.0% were confident. More than seven in ten (72.0%) respondents were not confident and 15.0% were confident with government agencies future use of AI and their ability to protect individuals’ personal information from unauthorised access or misuse.”