Poll finds half of respondents felt no benefit from the economic upturn

The Coalition’s appeal to ‘keep the recovery going’ has been challenged by an opinion poll which found more than half of respondents said they had felt no economic benefit from the economic upturn.

While the poll found that 44% felt they had experienced some benefit from the recovery, almost double that figure — 79% — said they believed the recovery was based on two tiers in society.

There was some succour for Fine Gael and Labour in the findings that 61% believe the recovery is here to stay for the next five years, and in the fact that 33% of those questioned said they wanted the universal social charge (USC) scrapped — a pledge made by Fine Gael in the run-up to the election. This week, Labour said that it would abolish the USC for all low and middle-income earners.