The number of people in Ireland who believe the impact of the economic crisis has reached its peak on the job market has increased significantly, a new survey suggests.
Results of the latest Eurobarometer public opinion survey for the European Commission found some 31 per cent of people questioned in May believed the crisis had peaked. This was an increase of 10 percentage points on the previous such survey.
Some 60 per cent of people questioned here believed the worst is still to come on the economic front, however.
Ireland’s figures were at the lower end of the optimism scale, with just residents of Cyprus, Greece and Portugal below us in their respective assessments of whether the worst had passed.
Just 27 per cent of those questioned in Cyprus believed the crisis had reached a peak, with 63 per cent believing the worst was still ahead.
In Greece just 19 per cent of people believed the worst was over, with 78 per cent believing it to be ahead of them.
Portugal, of all EU states, had the highest percentage of residents believing the worst of the crisis was ahead at 80 per cent. Just 15 per cent of people questioned there believed the crisis had peaked.
Overall, 43 per cent of Europeans believed the impact of the downturn on the jobs market had reached the top of the curve. This was just 1 percentage point higher than in the previous survey, but 15 points above the spring 2009 figures.
More Irish residents believed the European Union was best able to take effective action against the economic crisis than had faith in the Government in that regard. But the confidence level in the national government had nonetheless increased by eight percentage points on the previous survey.
Some 26 per cent of people here believed the EU was best placed to deal with the crisis, down six points. Just over one in five people (21 per cent) believed the Government was in a better position to do the job. This was a jump of eight points on the previous survey, reflecting the change of government following the February general election here.
The confidence level on that particular question was close to the EU average, which indicated 22 per cent of people put most faith in the EU, with 20 per cent favouring their national government to tackle the crisis.
Almost eight out of 10 Europeans were of the view that stronger co-ordination of economic policy among member states would be effective in tackling the economic situation.
Vice president of the European Commission Viviane Reding said the latest survey confirmed the EU was gradually emerging from the crisis.
“People believe that the EU is taking effective measures against the crisis and we are back on the path of recovery,” Ms Reding said.
“The survey also shows that the majority of people believe the EU is now going in the right direction. They expect the EU institutions and national governments to continue to confront the common challenge of sustaining growth and creating jobs. If we all act responsibly, Europe has a good chance of coming out of the crisis stronger than it was before.”
The report notes that while the general EU trend is positive, there is still “some scepticism in countries that continue to face recession and rising unemployment”.
“The gap between countries where public opinions think that the impact of the crisis has already reached its peak and those who think that the worst is still to come has actually widened since autumn 2010,” the report states.
The proportion of optimistic respondents varies from 15 per cent to 68 per cent, whereas it ranged from 20 per cent to 58 per cent in the previous survey.
“Generally speaking, this means that the situation has continued to improve in the ‘optimistic countries’, and to worsen in the ‘pessimistic’ ones,” the report said.
Optimism has grown in Denmark (68 per cent, +12), Estonia (64 per cent, +6), and Austria (62 per cent, +6).
It noted “considerable improvement” here and in Romania, which was up 13 points with a rating of 42 per cent.
Countries where sentiment continued to deteriorate since autumn last year were Portugal (15 per cent, -5), Greece (19 per cent, -3). The largest decreases were seen in Malta (38 per cent, -9) and Finland (45 per cent, -7).
The report acknowledges that different socio-economic categories perceive the crisis “in varied ways”.
“A majority of people belonging to the better-off socio-economic categories consider that the crisis has already reached its peak, while this is the minority view among the more precarious categories.”
Some 51 per cent of managers, 48 per cent of those who almost never have difficulties paying their bills, and 53 per cent of Europeans who place themselves at the top of the social scale were optimistic, compared with 34 per cent of the unemployed, 27 per cent of those struggling to pay their bills most of the time, and 31 per cent of those at the bottom of the social scale.