One in five people in Ireland think both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are “very weak” in terms of their record in tackling climate change, with fewer than one in 20 people considering them to be very strong on the issue.

However, climate change comes fifth in terms of the highest priorities when it comes to voting in general elections, with the cost of living, healthcare, housing, and immigration all featuring higher on the list, according to a new poll.

In the poll of 1,056 adults for the Irish Examiner by Ipsos B&A, the Green Party was rated the highest in terms of their record on climate change, with 43% saying they are strong or very strong in this regard, followed by the Social Democrats (20%) and People Before Profit (18%).

Sinn Féin, which has consistently opposed carbon tax increases, was rated strong or very strong by 17%, the same as Fine Gael and higher than Fianna Fáil (14%).

Independent Ireland, Labour and Aontú had the worst perception of being strong in terms of their climate record, with 25% of voters thinking Independent Ireland and Aontú were very weak in this regard.

In terms of issues that influence voting, inflation or the cost of living was ranked the top issue by 35% of people, with 70% putting it in their top three.

Healthcare featured next, cited by 47% of voters, with 12% having it as their top priority. A further 12% listed housing as their top priority, with 38% having it in their top three.

Today, Monday June 1, the 'Irish Examiner' publishes an in-depth analysis — in print and online here — of its new Ipsos B&A poll on Irish people's attitudes to issues including climate change

Immigration and crime/violence were cited by 26% of people as a top priority, while climate change was referenced by 21% of people. While 7% said climate change was their top priority, 9% said the same about immigration, while 6% said it was about crime/violence.

Lower down on the list were global instability (19%), the rise of extremism (18%), childcare and its cost (8%) and artificial intelligence (6%).

The view of the Greens was higher among those who were willing to alter their daily lives to make an impact on climate change and those whose vote is heavily influenced by the topic, with over half of both of these groups thinking this party was strong on climate.

While the party faced heavy losses at the last general election after forming part of the last Government, the Greens consistently defended their record, having seen public transport fare reductions, greenway investment and retrofitting programmes accelerated.

Their last remaining TD and leader Roderic O’Gorman has been critical of Government action in opposition, taking aim last week after new projections from the Environmental Protection Agency showed Ireland would not meet its 2030 climate targets.

“The Government should be setting out the extra actions it is going to take to try and make up the difference,” he said. “Instead, it is passively sitting back, which means Ireland is going to have to pay very significant fines due to the Government's inaction.” 

Labour also took aim at the Government over the targets, leading to a row in the Dáil between its leader Ivana Bacik and Taoiseach Micheál Martin late last week.

“We acknowledge where there has been progress, but it is the scale of the progress that is the problem,” Ms Bacik said.

“It is the pace of change that is the problem. There is no sense from the Government of the necessary ambition or urgency to take the additional measures required to achieve the emissions reductions we have signed up to. The figures speak for themselves.” 

Mr Martin retorted with a defence of Government action on the issue, but said choices have to be made with what is developed, as “it is not apple pie in every single scenario”.

“The bottom line is that Ireland now has the lowest level of greenhouse gas emissions in 35 years,” he said. “One of the successful things we have been able to do is decouple economic growth from emissions.

“The EPA's latest projections predict we are likely to either achieve our first carbon budget or marginally exceed it, as well as showing significant emission reductions across major sectors of the economy.”

This article was funded by the News Reporting Scheme