Trust Survey December 2021

Respondents were asked their opinion regarding the level of priority the government should be giving to:

• Providing equal opportunities for all
• Reducing job losses due to automation and new technologies
• Reducing the country's contribution to climate change
• Reducing public debt
• Creating the conditions for businesses to thrive

Answer responses were, A lot more, More, About the same, Less and A lot less. More than six in 10 (61%) respondents believe the government should be giving greater priority to providing equal opportunities for all, with less than one in five (19%) responding that the level of priority should be A lot more. Half (50%) of survey respondents believe greater priority should be given to reducing job losses due to automation and new technologies.

Almost seven in 10 (68%) respondents believe greater priority should be given to reducing the country's contribution to climate change, with three in 10 (31%) believing the priority level should be A lot more. More than five in 10 (53%) believe greater priority should be given to reducing public debt.

Almost seven in 10 (69%) respondents believe the government should place greater priority on creating the conditions for businesses to thrive. Overall, 27% believe the priority level should be A lot more. See Figure 5.1 and view Table TRA65 in PxStat.

More than two in three (67%) female respondents believe greater priority should be given to providing equal opportunities for all. This is 12 percentage points higher than the rate for male respondents (55%). More than one in five (22%) female respondents believe the priority level should be A lot more and 45% believe the level should be More. The comparable rates for male respondents were 16% and 39% respectively. See Figure 5.2 and view Table TRA65 in PxStat.

More than two in 10 (23%) respondents who voted in the last general election for a political party not currently in government said the government should be prioritising A lot more the reduction of job losses due to automation and new technologies, more than double (9%) the rate for respondents who voted for a government party. Respondents with Other employment status (e.g. student, unemployed, unable to work because of health problems) were more likely to believe the government should be prioritising the reduction of job losses A lot more when compared with respondents who are retired or working. More than one in five (22%) of these respondents believe the priority level should be A lot more, compared with 13% of respondents who are retired and 12% of those who are working. See Figure 5.3 and view Tables TRA67 and TRA71 in PxStat.

Almost three in four (73%) respondents with a third level degree believe greater priority should be given to the country’s contribution to climate change, with more than one in three (34%) believing that the priority level should be A lot more. Of respondents without a third level degree 57% believe greater priority should be given to the country’s contribution to climate change, with almost one in four (24%) believing that the level should be A lot more. See Figure 5.4 and view Table TRA68 in PxStat.

Respondents were asked ‘How confident are you that Ireland will succeed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the next 10 years?’ Answer options were Not at all confident, A little confident, Quite confident, Very confident and Completely confident

Almost four in 10 (39%) respondents answered Not at all confident with a similar percentage (40%) answering A little confident. Of respondents who voted in the last general election for a political party not currently in government, more than half (51%) are Not at all confident that the country will succeed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the next 10 years. The comparable rate for respondents who voted for a government party was lower at one in three (34%). View Tables TRA72 and TRA78 in PxStat

Younger respondents were more likely to answer Not at all confident with 41% of respondents aged 18-44 giving this response, eight percentage points higher than the rate for respondents aged 65 and over (33%). See Figure 5.5 and view Table TRA73 in PxStat.

The percentage of younger respondents (aged 18-44) who believe the government’s priority level for reducing public debt should be A lot more is almost double the rate for respondents aged 65 and over (26% compared with 14%). See Figure 5.6 and view Table TRA66 in PxStat.

Respondents were asked how much they believe the political system in Ireland allows people (like themselves) to have a say in what the government does. Answer options were Not at all, Very little, Some, A lot and A great deal.

Overall, 16% of respondents answered Not at all, 38% answered Very little, 38% answered Some, 6% answered A lot and 2% answered A great deal. See Table 5.1 and view Table TRA58 in PxStat.

Younger respondents were more likely to give a Not at all response with one in four (25%) respondents aged 18-44 answering in this way compared with more than one in 10 (11%) respondents aged 65 and over. The percentage of respondents without a third level degree who gave a Not at all response was more than double the rate for respondents that have a third level degree (27% compared with 13%). Respondents with Other activity status (e.g. student, unemployed, unable to work because of health problems) were more likely to answer Not at all with one in four (25%) of these respondents giving this response, compared with 16% of respondents who are working and 11% of respondents who are retired. See Figure 5.7 and view Tables TRA59, TRA60 and TRA61 in PxStat.

For further analysis on opinions on government policy priority levels and other results view Tables TRA50-TRA71 in PXStat.

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