Minister for Finance Michael Noonan is the most popular member of the Government, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll.

He is closely followed by Tánaiste Joan Burton and Minister for Health Leo Varadkar who tie for second place, with Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney closely behind in third.

The Government Minister with the lowest satisfaction rating is Minister for Energy and Communications Alex White but that is because most voters have no opinion about him.

Voters were asked if they were satisfied with the performance of the various Ministers. Mr Noonan came out on top with 45 per cent of people saying they were satisfied, 37 per cent dissatisfied and 18 per cent having no opinion.

This is a remarkable finding given that ministers for finance have traditionally suffered from short-term negative public reaction when serving in governments for making unpopular decisions.

Widely pilloried

In the 1970s Richie Ryan of Fine Gael was dubbed “Richie Ruin” while Alan Dukes was widely pilloried for unpopular decisions in the 1980s.

Mr Noonan is particularly popular among Fine Gael supporters, 75 per cent of whom express satisfaction with his performance.

Supporters of all other parties except Sinn Féin also express more satisfaction than dissatisfaction with his performance.

Ms Burton and Mr Varadkar are tied just one point behind Mr Noonan with a satisfaction rating of 44 per cent.

However, Mr Varadkar does better in terms of dissatisfaction with 31 per cent in that category for him and 37 per cent for Ms Burton.

Interestingly, Fine Gael voters are as strongly supportive of Ms Burton as Labour supporters.

In fact, Fine Gael voters are more satisfied with Ms Burton than with Mr Varadkar, while he has a broader spread of support across all party lines. Simon Coveney is just behind with 43 per cent satisfied and 24 per cent dissatisfied.

Mr Coveney and Mr Varadkar are often referred to as likely future leaders of Fine Gael. Among party supporters Mr Varadkar is slightly ahead in terms of satisfaction but Mr Coveney has a lower level of dissatisfaction.

At the other end of the scale Mr White has the lowest rating of any Cabinet Minister with just 13 per cent of voters saying they are satisfied, 28 per cent dissatisfied and 59 per cent having no opinion.

Dissatisfied

Minister for Arts and Heritage Heather Humphreys is in a similar position with 14 per cent satisfied, 27 per cent dissatisfied and 59 per cent having no opinion.

This is despite the fact that she was one of the key figures in the prolonged controversy over the appointment of Fine Gael Seanad candidate John McNulty to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

The other Minister near the bottom of the table is Minister for Children James Reilly who has a satisfaction rating of 15 per cent.

However, he has a very significant dissatisfaction rating at 49 per cent.

In fact Mr Reilly has by far the highest dissatisfaction rating in Cabinet.

The other newcomer to the cabinet, Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly, has a low satisfaction rating of 18 per cent but, like the other new Ministers, that is accounted for by the fact that a majority of voters, 58 per cent, have no opinion.