A majority of Irish voters believe the Government is right to appeal the European Commission ruling in the Apple case, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll.

When asked whether the Government was right to appeal the ruling that Apple should pay €13 billion in back tax, 47 per cent said yes, 39 per cent said no and 14 per cent had no opinion.

The decision to appeal the ruling caused a storm of controversy both at home and abroad, but the poll shows a majority of people back the Government’s stance.

In party terms the strongest support for the Government decision to appeal the ruling comes from Fine Gael supporters with 61 per cent of them in favour of bringing the matter to the European Court of Justice for determination.

Fianna Fáil voters are next in terms of support, followed by Labour supporters.

Strongest opposition

Sinn Féin voters are against the appeal by a small margin, but the strongest opposition to the decision comes from supporters of Independents and smaller parties.

This reflects the strong criticism of the Government decision from left-wing Independents and parties as well as the reservations expressed by some of the Independents who are part of the Government.

There is equally strong support for the Government decision among the best-off AB voters and the middle-class C1 voters while C2 voters are almost equally divided and the poorest DE voters are against the decision. Farmers, though, are in favour.

In regional terms the strongest support for the decision to appeal comes from Dublin followed by the rest of Leinster and then Munster with the strongest opposition in Connacht Ulster.

Most opposed

In age terms the over-65s are the most supportive of the Government appeal while the youngest 18 to 24-year group are most opposed. This reflects the political response to the Apple decision with the parties which do best among older voters, Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour, supporting the appeal while those who do best among younger voters like Sinn Féin and the smaller left wing parties strongly opposing the decision.