One-third of voters willing to pay 1% ‘green’ tax

MORE than one-third of voters are willing to pay an additional 1% in taxes to combat climate change.

A substantial majority of respondents to the Irish Examiner/Lansdowne Market Research opinion poll are concerned by climate change.

In all, 74% of voters say they are concerned, with 33% saying they are very concerned.

As one would expect, there is no real appetite for the building of a nuclear power station in Ireland.

These findings are unsurprising, given the way central environmental issues and global warming have become political.

However, almost a quarter of voters say they are not concerned, or not at all concerned.

In the breakdown of the findings, some interesting results emerge.

It is a marginally more pressing issue for males than females and is of most concern to people between the ages of 25 and 64; for 35% of this group it is of great concern.

It is only for the over-65s and the youngest voters that it diminishes in importance; 26% and 30%, respectively, of these groupings regard it as an issue of great concern.

In terms of social categories, it is the professional class (38%) which scores it highest as an issue. More members of this class (44%) are prepared to pay tax to augment climate change measures. This compares to 32% of blue-collar workers.

Unsurprisingly, Green Party supporters rank climate change as a critical issue.

Of the mainstream parties, Fine Gael supporters express most concern and say that they are willing to pay more taxes. Supporters of Sinn Féin (26%) are least willing to accept an increase in tax.

The question of building a nuclear power station in Ireland is off the agenda of each party.

However, while the notion is opposed by a clear majority, there is a larger than expected majority who support the proposal.

The biggest divide on this question was between males and females.

Some 30% of males say yes but that view is supported by only 14% of females.

There are mixed views among supporters of various parties on this issue. The Greens and the Labour Party are most opposed while a quarter of Fine Gael and Labour say yes.

Regionally, voters in Dublin (26%) support nuclear power marginally more than in other regions.

The strong findings of the environment section of the Irish Examiner poll reflect the huge emphasis that political parties other than the Greens have put on climate change, alternative energy and global warming in the past 18 months.

All parties have set themselves ambitious targets for renewable and alternative sources of energy as well as proposals to encourage commuters to make the modal shift from cars to public and other forms of transport.

However, key divides remain over the issues of waste incinerators, the continuance of the ambitious roads project, and renewable energy targets, as well as which party is most committed to public transport.