Irish people have much greater trust in fellow citizens than they do in Government, survey finds

Seven people in 10 cited housing as the top issue facing Ireland.

Less than half of people say they trust the Government and just one in four trust political parties, a major new survey has found.

And while a majority of people say they trust the gardaí and the courts, a majority are also dissatisfied with our health service.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) published its Trust Survey for late 2023 on Wednesday, with almost 2,000 responses on what level of trust people in Ireland have for each other and for various institutions.

More than four in five (83%) said they trusted “most people”, an increase from 78% when the survey was last undertaken in 2021.

When asked how comfortable they would feel asking a neighbour to keep a set of keys to their home for emergencies, half of people said they would be happy to do so.

We are less trusting now, however, on whether a lost wallet or purse containing €100 and our identity details inside would be returned if found by a neighbour. 

In 2021, 96% said they believed it would be. This has fallen to 92.5% and just four in 10 people think the wallet or purse would be returned if found by a stranger.

CSO statistician Caragh Stapleton said: “Overall, when it comes to trust, our analysis shows that the highest levels of trust were in people when compared with other institutions such as political parties, the civil service, or the media.

“Respondents who voted for a party currently in Government had higher levels of trust in local and national levels of government compared with those who voted for a party not currently in Government.

“Respondents were also asked what factors impacted their level of trust in national government and government officials abiding by the same rules as everybody else was the most frequently selected option as having the greatest impact on trust (62.5%)."

She added men were more likely to report having trust in the Government compared to women.

More than half of people, meanwhile, believed the Government would agree to the demand of a big corporation if that firm promoted a policy that benefited its industry but could be harmful to society.

Similarly, three in five thought it unlikely a senior politician would refuse a well-paid private sector job in exchange for a political favour.

Climate change was mentioned by two in five people as being one of the top issues facing Ireland.

On the other hand, three in five also thought it was likely that Government institutions would be ready to protect people’s lives in a large-scale emergency.

Respondents were also asked what they thought were the top three issues facing Ireland. Seven in 10 cited housing.

The other two most common issues were inflation and the cost of living (59% of people) and the availability, quality or affordability of essential services (57%).

Climate change was mentioned by two in five people as being one of the top issues facing Ireland, followed by crime and poverty. Immigration was cited by just 16% of people followed by the spread of misinformation and fake news (15%).

In terms of climate change, more than half of people think we will not manage to reduce emissions in the next decade, while three in five are not confident the Government adequately balances the interests of current and future generations.

Younger people were more likely to think we will not succeed in reducing emissions in the medium term.

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