In a statistical release published on the 23rd of September, drawn from the OECD Trust Survey 2025, just 25% of respondents in Ireland identified climate change or environmental threats as one of the top three issues facing the country.
The findings reflect a steep 15 percentage point drop from the previous survey in 2023, when 40% of the Irish public ranked environmental challenges among their primary national concerns.
Sarah Crilly, a statistician in the CSO Social Cohesion and Sustainable Development Goals Division, detailed the scope of the international research.
“Ireland was one of 38 countries that participated in the OECD Trust Survey 2025, with the previous Trust Surveys taking place in 2021 and 2023,” Crilly said.
“In addition to questions on trust, the survey asked respondents to choose the top three issues facing their country from thirteen topics.
“These included the availability, quality or affordability of housing, inflation and cost of living, and availability, quality or affordability of healthcare and education services.
“The results are based on more than 77,000 people taking part in the survey across 38 countries, with 2,194 responses gathered in Ireland.”
While environmental worries fell sharply, public concern over immigration saw a substantial increase over the same two-year period.
A quarter of respondents in Ireland (24%) identified immigration as one of their top three concerns in 2025, climbing from 16% in 2023 and placing the issue almost on par with climate change.
Concern over immigration was most pronounced among older demographics, with 27% of people aged 50 and over selecting it as a top issue, compared to just 18% of those aged between 18 and 29.
Across the wider population, practical economic pressures dominated the public mood, led by accommodation.
Almost two-thirds of Irish respondents (64%) cited the availability, quality, or affordability of housing as a top three issue facing the State.
Ireland recorded the highest rate of concern regarding housing out of all 38 countries surveyed, far surpassing second-placed Luxembourg at 50% and the overall OECD average of 20%.
Among young adults aged between 18 and 29, 84% reported housing as one of their primary national concerns.
Inflation and the cost of living ranked just behind housing as the second most important issue, though also selected by 64% of respondents in Ireland, compared to an OECD average of 52%.
Essential public services, including healthcare and education, followed in third place at 45%, having dropped from 57% in 2023.
The survey also measured public apprehension surrounding the spread of misinformation and fake news, which climbed nationwide from 15% in 2023 to 22% in 2025.
That increase was driven heavily by the youngest demographic, where concern over misinformation more than doubled from 9% in 2023 to 21% in 2025.
The surge among young people comes amid sustained Government efforts to embed anti-misinformation modules and media literacy campaigns into the national school curriculum.
Elsewhere in the survey, crime and violence was selected as a top concern by 24% of respondents, with 28% of those aged 50 and over listing it as a priority, compared to 13% of younger respondents.
The fall in climate concern follows significant political realignments regarding environmental policy over the past two years.
In the 2024 general election, the Green Party suffered widespread electoral losses and was removed from Government, dropping from 12 Dáil seats to just a single TD, party leader Roderic O’Gorman.