In the 2025 Trust Survey, respondents were asked questions on voting, the electoral system and participation in politics. Respondents were asked to rate several relevant topics. These included the level of say they are allowed to have in politics on a scale from ‘0 - Not at all’ to '10 - Completely’, about their confidence in their own ability to participate in politics on a scale from ‘0 – Not at all confident’ to ’10-Completely confident’ and the level of influence that certain actions can have on what government does on a scale from ‘0-No influence at all’ to ’10-Significant influence’. In line with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) recommended groupings, responses were grouped in ‘0-4’, ‘5-Neutral’ and ‘6-10’ for the relevant scales.
Statistics on voting and participation in politics 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.
A new question on trusting the electoral system was introduced in 2025. Over three quarters (77.3%) of respondents trusted the electoral system. A higher proportion of men trusted the electoral system, at 80.4%, compared to 74.4% of women. Younger respondents were more likely to trust the electoral system than older respondents, with 82.8% of those aged 18-29 years trusting the electoral system. Around three quarters of those aged 30-49 years and 50 years and over trusted the electoral system, at 75.5% and 76.9% respectively.
Almost two thirds (65.3%) of respondents were satisfied with how elections are managed in Ireland. Some regional differences were seen, where 67.7% of respondents in the Eastern and Midland region were satisfied with how elections are managed in Ireland, compared to 60.1% of respondents in the Northern and Western region.
Respondents were also asked whether they considered voting in an election to be a duty or choice. Almost four in five (78.8%) respondents considered voting to be a duty. This was higher for women, at 81.1% compared with 76.5% of men. Perception of voting as a duty was higher for older age groups, with 79.8% for those aged 50 years and over considering voting a duty, compared to 76.9% of respondents aged 18-29 years and 78.3% of those aged 30-49 years.
In 2025, almost six in ten (58.0%) respondents were confident in their own ability to participate in politics. The percentage of employed respondents and those unemployed in training or other who felt confident in their own ability to participate in politics was almost the same, at 56.9% and 56.6% respectively. It was highest for retired respondents, at 62.4%.
In 2025, respondents were asked about the say that the political system allows people like them to have in what the government does. This question was asked on a scale from ‘0 - Not at all’ to '10 - Completely’, where responses were grouped in ‘0-4 Not completely’, ‘5-Neutral’ and ‘6-10 Completely’. In 2025, a third (32.7%) of respondents believed that the political system allows people like them to have a say in what the government does. Respondents were asked if they voted in the last general election. For respondents that did vote, they were then asked if the voted for a party currently in government. For those that voted for a party in government, 39.6% believed that they the political system allows people like them to have a say in what the government does, compared to 27.2% of respondents who voted but not for a party in government.
Respondents were asked if certain actions can influence what the government does. Over four in five (83.2%) respondents felt that voting in a referendum would influence government actions. Seven in ten (70.1%) respondents felt that voting in an election 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.
Respondents were asked about their source of information about politics and current affairs. Respondents could select multiple sources of information about politics and current affairs. Almost eight in ten respondents sourced it from news or current affairs programmes on TV or radio (79.3%) or newspapers, magazines or online news websites (77.2%). Six in ten sourced the information from social media posts (61.4%) or conversations with others (59.4%).
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.