JOAN BURTON is the most popular member of the cabinet among the Irish public, a new opinion poll has found.

The Ipsos MRBI poll commissioned by the Irish Times found that Burton enjoys a 41 per cent approval rating among voters – the highest of any member of the cabinet.

Respondents were asked to indicate their approval of six ministers holding high-profile cabinet briefs, with James Reilly scoring the lowest.

Reilly’s performance as the Minister for Health was the least popular among voters, with a mere 13 per cent approval rating.

Phil Hogan followed, with a performance approval rating of 16 per cent for the environment minister.

Alan Shatter enjoys approval of 20 per cent, while Brendan Howlin’s performance is approved by 23 per cent of voters.

Finance minister Michael Noonan is the second most popular minister of the six, after Burton, with an approval rating of 36 per cent.

Curiously, James Reilly’s support among Fianna Fáil voters was higher than it was among Labour supporters, according to this morning’s Irish Times.

Enda Kenny’s support was not measured in the poll, but a separate opinion poll carried out by Red C for Paddy Power last week indicated that he enjoyed a 41 per cent approval rating for his performance as leader of Fine Gael.

1,000 voters were sampled for the poll, which was carried out last Monday and Tuesday.

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