Voters are spooked by the prospect of a trade war prompted by the Trump administration’s tariffs and are growing more pessimistic about their economic future, the latest Irish Times/Ipsos B&A opinion poll finds.
Following Mr Trump’s re-election more than eight in 10 voters (82 per cent) say they are “more worried” about the future, with just 5 per cent saying they are “less worried”.
Asked about their expectations of the economic situation in 12 months’ time, more than six in 10 voters (61 per cent) say they believe things will be worse, with just 7 per cent expecting them to be better.
Voters are so nervous about the prospects of a trade war that a majority (58 per cent) want the European Union to “try to negotiate a trade deal at all costs”; just 28 per cent say the EU should “risk a trade war if a good deal is not on offer”.
Should the public finances deteriorate as a result of a trade war, voters are opposed to the Government borrowing more, with just 13 per cent of respondents saying it should increase borrowing. However, they are almost evenly split on whether the Government should trim public spending increases or halt tax increases – 35 per cent say “stop increases in public spending”, while 36 per cent say “cancel plans for tax cuts”.
Voters also believe the Government needs a new plan on housing, the poll finds.
Almost three-quarters of voters (73 per cent) said they agreed with the statement “The Government needs a new housing plan”. Even supporters of Fianna Fáil (57 per cent) and Fine Gael (62 per cent) say a new plan is required; among the under-35s, more than 80 per cent of voters agree.
Just 7 per cent of all voters say the Government’s housing plan is working, while 17 per cent say the plan is “not working but better to stick with it than try a new plan”.
Other findings in the poll also underline the public impatience on the Government’s housing performance.
Asked which one issue they believed should be the priority for the Government, almost half of all voters (49 per cent) said housing. The next most favoured issue was “better government services” (17 per cent), followed by immigration (10 per cent), a stronger economy (8 per cent), lower taxes (5 per cent), increased welfare and pensions (4 per cent) and climate change (5 per cent).
The poll was conducted among a representative sample of adults aged 18 years and upwards across 120 sampling points throughout all constituencies. Personal in-home interviewing took place on April 14th and 15th. The total number of interviews conducted was 1,200. The accuracy is estimated at plus or minus 2.8 per cent.
