Help with the cost of living is the number-one priority of voters in advance of the budget, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos B&A opinion poll.
Half of respondents to the poll said they wanted the Government to prioritise “immediate help with the cost of living” when it delivers its final budget in less than a fortnight.
Asked which from a list of options they wanted the Government to put emphasis on in the budget, 50 per cent of voters cited help with the cost of living.
Less than half that number – 24 per cent – said they wanted the Government to prioritise increased spending on public services.
Just 16 per cent wanted the Government to put the emphasis on reducing the amount of tax they pay, while 8 per cent said the Government should “save surplus resources to invest in the future”.
The poll’s finding comes as Ministers spend hours locked in wrangling over budget allocations. The Irish Times reported earlier this week that a cost-of-living package worth about €1.5 billion is being considered by the Government, though final decisions are unlikely to be made until next week.
It is expected to feature additional energy credits and social welfare bonuses, though Ministers have signalled that the package is likely to be smaller than last year. But with the exchequer running a large surplus and an election imminent in the coming months, Minister for Finance Jack Chambers and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe are under fierce pressure from colleagues to present as big a budget giveaway as possible.
[ No guarantee voters will be grateful if Government bungs them money in the budget ]
[ Strained electorate may sense chance to get issues addressed before they cast their ballots ]
Voters also say that the cost of living is the issue that will most affect how they vote.
Almost a third of voters (32 per cent) chose the cost of living as the issue most likely to influence their vote – by far the most popular choice – from a list that also included health (16 per cent); house prices (16 per cent); immigration (12 per cent); the cost of renting (8 per cent); the economy (6 per cent); taxation (4 per cent) and tackling climate change (4 per cent).
Voters also want to see the proceeds of the Apple tax judgment spent on “housing and other pressing needs”. Half of all respondents (50 per cent) say they want it spent for this purpose with just 5 per cent saying they want the Government to use the Apple money to “save for the future” and a further 7 per cent opting for paying off some of the national debt.
More than a third of voters said they wanted to see a mix of all these options.
There is pessimism about the prospects of younger people. Asked if younger people in their 20s and 30s would have better or worse life prospects if they moved overseas compared with living in Ireland, two-thirds of all respondents (66 per cent) said they would be better off abroad. Just 6 per cent said they would be worse off abroad, while 22 per cent said it would make no difference.
The poll was conducted among a representative sample of adults aged 18 years and upwards across 120 sampling points throughout all constituencies. Unlike most other opinion polls, The Irish Times/Ipsos series is conducted through face-to-face sampling; personal in-home interviewing took place between September 14th and 17th. The total number of interviews conducted was 1,200. The accuracy is estimated at plus or minus 2.8 per cent.
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