Ireland Thinks poll shows value people put on EU’s environmental role
Strong majorities of the public want the Government to use Ireland’s upcoming Presidency of the EU to uphold or strengthen environmental protection, reduce Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels, and tax the extra profits oil companies are making because of the US-Israeli assault on Iran, according to a new Ireland Thinks Poll. Published to mark UN World Environment Day on Friday 5 June, which also marks the end of EU Green Week, the poll was commissioned by the Irish Environmental Network and comes a little over three weeks before Ireland takes up the Presidency of the Council of the EU.
72% of the public think the EU has been important or “very important indeed” to improving Ireland’s environment. And at a time when the European Commission is pursuing an agenda of “simplification” of many EU rules and standards, which critics have warned is deregulation by another name, 39% of people say the Government should use Ireland’s EU Presidency to strengthen EU environmental protections, with another 40% saying the Irish Presidency should work to uphold existing environmental protections.
Only 12% of people say EU environmental protections should be weakened. However, just last month under the current Cypriot EU Presidency member states were floating proposals to weaken the EU nature and water directives and the Irish Government has not yet made it clear where it stands on that debate.
When asked about what the priorities for the Government during Ireland’s Presidency of the EU should be, 70% said reducing our dependence on fossil fuel energy, including 28% who think it should be a “top priority” compared to just 9% who think it should “not be a priority at all”. 76% think the introduction of a new, EU-wide windfall tax on the excess profits of energy companies should be a priority, including 34% who say it should be a top priority, compared to just 5% it should not be a priority at all.
Commenting, Oonagh Duggan, Head of Policy with BirdWatch Ireland, said:
“We would have little or no nature or clean water left in Ireland without the EU’s environmental laws and it’s clear that a strong majority of people also recognise and value the role the EU plays in protecting our environment.”
Oisín Coghlan, Policy Advisor to the Environmental Pillar of social dialogue, commented:
“At a time when there is a political movement at European level to weaken environmental protection and rowback on corporate regulation, we urge the Government to use Ireland’s Presidency of the EU to reflect what the public actually want and value: clean water, clean air and making big oil companies pay their fair share to help us end our dependence on dirty, expensive fossil fuels”
The poll also asked people to rate which issues EU policy can make the most difference on. Two issues came out joint top. One was “Protecting nature and water quality” and the other was “The regulation of big tech companies and AI”. In each case 68% of people said EU policy can make quite a difference or a very big difference. That compares with 61% who said “Reducing climate and air pollution”, 59% who said our “dependence on fossil fuels”, and the significantly lower 45% who said “the cost of living in Ireland” and just 40% who said “The housing crisis in Ireland”.
One EU policy issue we know the Government will have to handle during its six-month Presidency is the Circular Economy Act the Commission will be bringing forward to reduce and prevent waste. But the public are sceptical of how well positioned Ireland is to lead member states on the issue, with 65% saying the Government hasn’t done enough on waste here to show leadership at EU level.
Commenting, Colin O’Byrne, Programme Manager with VOICE said,
“The Circular Economy Act represents a unique opportunity for Ireland to put its stamp on a potentially transformative piece of legislation to move the EU beyond waste management and into resource efficiency. By building things that last and designing them so that they can be repaired and re-used, we develop a more resilient Europe, one that isn’t so beholden to external shocks and events beyond our borders.
“The Circular Economy Act gives us control by developing and enhancing our autonomy and our ability to fend for ourselves. The opportunity is there for Ireland to show leadership on this, but the poll shows that, despite their talk, the government needs to put its money (and policy) where its mouth is and deliver on the Circular Economy at home, too.”
Ends.
Notes
- Ireland Thinks carried out this poll from 1-3 June 2026. The sample size was 1,002 adults in Ireland, weighted by age, gender and region, with a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.
The full polling report can be downloaded here: https://bit.ly/IEN-EUpollingJun2