ANALYSIS:Government proposal on weekend working rates is opposed by a majority of the public
THERE IS strong public support for spending cuts rather than tax increases in the next budget, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll.
It also shows the public is in favour of further pay cuts for public servants rather than redundancies to reduce the deficit.
The poll reveals considerable opposition to ending overtime payments for Sunday and bank holiday working.
Asked where the Government should put the emphasis in the budget, 62 per cent opted for cuts in public spending, while 20 per cent favoured tax increases.
Support for spending cuts was highest among middle-class voters but a sizeable majority of working-class voters also backed the strategy.
In party terms Fine Gael voters were most supportive, with Sinn Féin the least enthusiastic about the strategy.
There has been an increase in the numbers backing spending cuts since the question was last asked in January 2010.
At that stage 55 per cent backed cuts, while 28 per cent favoured tax increases.
On the question of pay cuts or redundancies as a way of saving money for the exchequer, 58 per cent favour reducing pay, while 27 per cent opt for redundancies.
This runs counter to Government policy and the Croke Park agreement, which are directed at redundancies in the public service as a way of saving money.
In party terms Fine Gael voters are most at odds with Government policy, with 65 per cent in favour of salary cuts.
However, Labour voters are more strongly in favour of redundancies than the supporters of any other party.
On the issue of weekend working there is strong opposition to plans to end those payments.
Asked if they approved or disapproved of the elimination of higher rates of pay for weekend working, 67 per cent disapproved, while 25 per cent approved and 8 per cent had no opinion.
Better off voters were more inclined to support the end of overtime payments, with 39 per cent of the AB category expressing approval.
Strongest opposition came among the poorest DE category where just 17 per cent approved and 77 per cent disapproved.
There was no great difference in attitudes across different age groups or regions but in party political terms the strongest approval for changes in the current system came from Fine Gael voters, while Labour and Sinn Féin voters were the most strongly opposed.
The electorate is almost evenly divided on whether the Fine Gael-Labour Government will be able to improve the economic situation.
A total of 40 per cent said the new Government would improve the situation, 42 per cent thought it would have no impact and 11 per cent felt it would worsen the position.
The strongest confidence in the ability of the Government to improve the economic position was expressed by the better off AB and C1 voters where a clear majority took that view.
Among working-class voters and farmers the majority did not believe the Government would improve the situation, according to the poll.
Fine Gael voters were by far the most confident in the Coalition’s ability to do better, with 63 per cent saying it would improve the economic situation and 31 per cent saying it would not.
Labour voters were not nearly as confident, with 45 per cent believing in the ability of the Coalition to improve matters and 39 per cent feeling it would make no difference.
Confidence in the ability of Fine Gael and Labour to deal with the situation has improved since the question was asked at the beginning of this year and last year when they were in opposition.
However, on the issue of whether the Coalition has done enough to negotiate better terms on the EU-IMF bailout, a majority believes it has not done enough.
Just 31 per cent of voters said it had done enough, while 53 per cent said it had not.
Fine Gael and Labour voters were much more inclined to say the Government had done enough, with almost half the supporters of both parties expressing that view.
Exactly half of those polled said Ireland had surrendered its sovereignty by accepting the EU-IMF bailout but that figure was down by six points since last December when the question was previously asked.
Fine Gael voters were least inclined to accept that the country had surrendered its sovereignty, while Sinn Féin voters were by far the most inclined to agree.
There were no major differences across the regions, age groups or social classes on the issue.
Despite the attitude to sovereignty, a clear majority of voters continue to believe it is better to be part of the EU.
When asked, 68 per cent said it was better to be part of the EU, 22 per cent said it was not and 10 per cent had no opinion.
Views on the issue have changed little since the autumn of 2009 when the second Lisbon Treaty referendum was passed.
There is a variation in attitudes across the social groups with middle-class voters more strongly of the view that it is better to be part of the EU. There is however no great variation across regions or age group on the issue of being part of the EU.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil supporters are most strongly of the view that it is better to be part of the EU.
Sinn Féin voters are least supportive, with Labour voters coming in the middle.
