Almost two-thirds of voters support the claim by nurses for a 10 per cent pay rise and a 35-hour working week.
According to the latest TNS mrbi opinion poll carried out for The Irish Times and published today a clear majority of 58 per cent of voters also support the nurses' industrial action in pursuit of their claims.
The poll, conducted last Monday and Tuesday, found 65 per cent of voters supported the claim by nurses for a pay rise and shorter working week. Some 28 per cent of voters said they did not support the claims and 7 per cent of voters had no opinion.
Support for the nurses' claims was quite even across the country - with 64 per cent of voters in Dublin and the rest of Leinster, 66 per cent of voters in Munster and 67 per cent of voters in Connacht/Ulster saying they supported their request for a 10 per cent pay rise and a 35-hour week. At present nurses work a 39-hour week.
Overall, 62 per cent of male voters and 69 per cent of female voters supported the nurses' demands.
Across all age groups, a majority of those polled supported the demands. Support was highest at 70 per cent among the 25-34 age group and lowest at 55 per cent among the 65 years and over age group.
Turning to party allegiance, a majority of voters for all parties, except the Progressive Democrats, expressed support for the claims. Some 63 per cent of Fianna Fáil voters and Fine Gael voters, 71 per cent of Labour supporters, 61 per cent of Green Party voters, 79 per cent of Sinn Féin backers and 41 per cent of PD voters supported the demands. Support for their claims among supporters for Independents and others was 68 per cent.
More than 40,000 nurses in the Irish Nursing Organisation (INO) and Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA) began industrial action in pursuit of their claims almost four weeks ago. The action has been a work-to-rule, resulting in a refusal to deal with non-essential phone calls or to carry out clerical or IT duties - and a number of one-hour work stoppages.
When voters were asked if they supported the nurses' industrial action, 58 per cent said they did, 35 per cent said they did not and 7 per cent said they had no opinion.
Support for industrial action in pursuit of their claims stood at 54 per cent in Dublin, at 61 per cent in the rest of Leinster, at 59 per cent in Munster and at 57 per cent in Connacht/Ulster.
Overall, 53 per cent of male voters and 62 per cent of female voters said they supported the nurses' industrial action.
But support for their industrial action was lowest among older age groups. Just 43 per cent of voters in the 65 years and over age-range supported their industrial action in pursuit of their claims, compared with 59 per cent of voters aged 50-64 years, 63 per cent of voters aged 35-49 years, 62 per cent of voters aged 25-34 years, and 55 per cent of voters in the 18-24 age range.
Turning to party allegiance again, a majority of voters for all parties except the PDs expressed support for the nurses' industrial action in pursuit of their claims.
Just 37 per cent of PD voters said they supported the action.
Support, however, was highest at 70 per cent among Labour and Sinn Féin voters.
Meanwhile, some 51 per cent of Fianna Fáil voters, 59 per cent of Fine Gael voters and 56 per cent of Green Party supporters expressed support for the industrial action. Support among voters for Independents and others stood at 61 per cent.
The poll was conducted among a representative sample of 1,000 voters in face-to-face interviews at 100 sampling points around the country last Monday and Tuesday.
It took place just days after the Health Service Executive said the nurses' industrial action was costing it up to €2 million a week and was putting patients at risk.