Respondents to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Trust Survey were asked to choose the top three issues facing their country. Not all issues were reported from the international surveys. Those reported were:
In Ireland, almost two thirds (64%) of respondents reported the Availability, Quality and Affordability of Housing as one of the three most important issues facing the country. This was the highest percentage for this issue of any country surveyed, followed by Luxembourg at 50% and Iceland at 36%. Only 3% of respondents in Finland reported the Availability, Quality and Affordability of Housing to be one of the top three issues facing the country. Almost one in five (18%) respondents in the United Kingdom reported it to be an issue. The OECD average was 20%.
Regarding the Availability, Quality or Affordability of Essential Services (e.g. Healthcare, Education), Ireland was fourth ranked internationally with 45% of respondents reporting it as a top three issue. Iceland (52%), Finland (49%), and Latvia (45%) were higher. In the United Kingdom, one in four (25%) respondents reported the Availability, Quality or Affordability of Essential Services (e.g. Healthcare, Education) as one of the top three issues.
In Ireland, 4% of respondents reported Unemployment and Jobs to be one of the top three issues facing the country. This was the lowest percentage internationally. Seven in ten (70%) respondents in Finland considered this to be one of the three most important issues facing the country, followed by Costa Rica at 41%.
Less than one in five (17%) respondents in Ireland reported Poverty and Social Inequalities to be one of the top three issues facing the country. A higher percentage of respondents reported it as a top three issue in 2023, at 23%. In 2025, Australia had the lowest percentage (15%) of respondents who identified Poverty and Social Inequalities as a top three issues. Bulgaria had the highest (43% of respondents).
Less than one in ten (9%) respondents reported National Security to be a top three issue in Ireland, the same percentage as Slovenia, Greece and Australia. Estonia (46%), Denmark (45%) and Poland (39%) ranked highest.
Almost two thirds (64%) of respondents in Ireland reported Inflation / Cost of Living to be one of the top three issues facing the country. This was similar to the United Kingdom, at 61%. At least seven in ten respondents in Croatia (76%), Estonia (74%) and Japan (70%) reported it as an issue. In Peru, only one in five (20%) of respondents reported Inflation / Cost of Living to be one of the top three issues effecting the country.
Half (50%) of respondents in the United Kingdom and a quarter (24%) of respondents in Ireland reported Immigration as one of the top three issues facing the country. The United Kingdom had the highest percentage of respondents reporting Immigration as a top three issue, followed by the Netherlands at 46% and Germany at 40%. Only 1% of respondents in Brazil reported it as an issue.
A quarter (24%) of respondents in Ireland reported Crime and Violence as one of the top three issues facing the country, the same as Portugal and Greece. This compares to three quarters of respondents in Peru and Mexico (75%). Of survey participant countries Estonia had the lowest percentage (4%) who included Crime and Violence as a top three issue.
Although only one in four (25%) of Irish respondents reported Climate Change and other Threats to the Environment as one of the top three issues facing the country, it was the third highest ranked, with Japan at 38% and Denmark at 34%. Only 3% of Latvian respondents identified Climate Change and other Threats to the Environment as a top three issue.
Only one in twenty (5%) respondents in Ireland reported Corruption as one of the top three issues facing the country. Finland had the lowest percentage at 2% of respondents. In 14 of the 38 countries surveyed, less than one in ten considered Corruption to be an issue. Over half of respondents in Peru (64%), Bulgaria (58%), Croatia (56%), Romania (54%), Brazil (53%) and Columbia (52%) reported Corruption to be one of the top three issues facing the country.
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