Public servants #GE2020 poll

General election: New poll finds public servants’ votes likely to be swayed by policies on pay, health, homelessness, childcare and working time

A survey of over 7,000 public servants has found that substantial majorities are prepared to vote for parties they haven’t previously supported depending on the party’s policies on pay, healthcare, housing, childcare, and the four-day week.

The poll, conducted by Amarach Research for Fórsa trade union between Thursday 23rd and Tuesday 28th January, found that 88% of public servants said public service pay policy was either an important or a very important factor in determining how they would vote on 8th February.

Almost two-thirds (63%) said they would consider voting for parties they hadn’t voted for in the past if they pledged inflation-plus pay increases, while only 9% said they would not consider doing so. More than half (53%) said they would refuse to vote for parties that didn’t pledge to do so.

Public servants care most about the same issues - housing, health, living costs, and childcare - as the rest of Ireland.

A whopping 94% said it was unacceptable that higher-paid public servants are having their pay fully restored to pre-crisis levels, while those on lower incomes are still working extra unpaid hours introduced during the recession. Over two-thirds (68%) said this could influence their vote on Saturday week, while only 15% said the issue would not influence their choice of candidate.

Public service pay is definitely an issue for a significant proportion of the electorate.

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said the survey was the first significant attempt to identify the factors that will determine how Ireland’s 300,000 public servants will vote in a general election.

“There are four stand-out messages from our survey. First, public servants care most about the same issues – particularly housing, health, living costs, and childcare – as the rest of Ireland. Second, public service pay is definitely an issue for a significant proportion of the electorate. Third, public servants are prepared to change their voting behaviour on the basis of party positions on the issues they care most about. And fourth, public servants will turn up to vote on Saturday week,” he said.

The poll also found that:

  • 88% of public servants said they would back parties they haven’t previously voted for if they pledged increased investment in community health services as part of a move towards free healthcare for all (4% said they would not; 9% don’t know)
  • 79% of public servants said they would back parties they haven’t previously voted for if they pledged to support a four-day week, or other mechanisms to reduce working time, without loss of pay or productivity (7% said they would not; 14% don’t know)
  • 79% of public servants said they would back parties they haven’t previously voted for if they committed to a large-scale public home-building programme to address the housing and homelessness crisis (6% said they would not; 14% don’t know)
  • 71% of public servants said they would back parties they haven’t previously voted for if they pledged to support publicly-provided and funded affordable childcare for working people (9% said they would not; 19% don’t know)
  • 65% of public servants said they would back parties they haven’t previously voted for if they committed to an early referendum to ensure that Ireland’s water services remain in public ownership (10% said they would not; 25% don’t know)
  • 59% of public servants said they would back parties they haven’t previously voted for if they pledged to require employers to publish their organisation’s gender pay gap (10% said they would not; 31% don’t know).

Almost all (99%) of the 7,148 Fórsa members who participated in the online survey said they intended to vote in the general election, although a very significant 27% remained undecided about who would get their support.

Public servants are prepared to change their voting behaviour on the basis of party positions on the issues they care most about.

Just 4% of respondents identified tax as the single biggest issue in the election, way behind health [22%], housing and homelessness [18%], wages and salaries [17%], the cost of living [12%], and climate change [7%].

Gerard O’Neill of Amarach Research said this survey of public servants was the biggest of its kind in recent years. “General Election 2020 is about how best to share the benefits of Ireland’s economic recovery and success. Our survey of Fórsa members shows that, like the majority Irish citizens, public servants want to see public resources used wisely to tackle Ireland’s most pressing problems,” he said.

Public servants will turn up to vote on Saturday week.

Fórsa represents 80,000 staff in hundreds of different occupations and grades across the Irish public service including civil service departments and offices; the HSE and voluntary hospitals; schools, colleges and other education settings; local authorities; the community and voluntary sector; and non-commercial semi-state bodies. Its members in private companies and commercial semi-state bodies were not polled.