Three-quarters of voters support the substance of the legal case being taken by the Limerick lecturer Mr Denis Riordan against the appointment of Mr Hugh O'Flaherty to the European Investment Bank, according to the latest Irish Times/MRBI opinion poll.
Some 75 per cent say all suitably qualified members of the public should be allowed to apply for key European or national jobs, with just 16 per cent believing the Government should continue to nominate individuals.
The view that there should be public competition for such posts is strongly held by all parties, among them 70 per cent of Fianna Fail and 77 per cent of Progressive Democrats' supporters. The corresponding figure for Fine Gael and Labour is 79 per cent in both parties. Only 21 per cent of Fianna Fail and 20 per cent of the PDs supporters believe the Government should continue to make the nominations.
The public also has little confidence in the internal inquiries into planning corruption carried out by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, and is equally divided as to whether a general election should be called as a result of tribunal revelations about payments to politicians.
Some 73 per cent of voters believe the party inquiries have not exposed the full extent of corruption in relation to planning matters, with just 19 per cent believing they have.
PD voters are almost unanimously sceptical about the inquiries, with 93 per cent saying they have not fully exposed corruption while only 7 per cent believe they have. Fianna Fail voters are least unhappy with the inquiries; but even among Fianna Fail supporters 67 per cent think the inquiries have not fully exposed the extent of corruption.
Two-thirds of voters are also dissatisfied with the action taken by the parties as a result of the inquiries. Some 66 per cent nationally were not happy with the level of action, while 23 per cent were satisfied. Among Fianna Fail supporters, the level of dissatisfaction reached 58 per cent compared to 33 per cent who were satisfied.
In Fine Gael, where the initial decision not to ratify Senator Liam Cosgrave, from Dun Laoghaire, and two councillors until further information was provided caused most controversy, 71 per cent of supporters were dissatisfied with the action taken while 19 per cent were satisfied.
Some 45 per cent of voters say a general election should now be called given the amount of information revealed by the tribunals. Some 46 per cent say an election should not be called now. PD voters dramatically buck the general trend, however, with 80 per cent opposed to an election and just 20 per cent in favour. Unsurprisingly, 62 per cent of Fianna Fail supporters also oppose a general election with 32 per cent in favour.
In relation to the Bacon report proposals to speed up the planning process for housing, 50 per cent favour retaining the present system with 93 per cent favouring an automatic system. The Government has recommended in an effort to speed up building the Bacon recommendation that once a plan has been devised and approved for a special designated area for housing, individual planning applications for schemes in that area cannot be appealed to An Bord Pleanala.