The Anti-Austerity Alliance and People Before Profit party has seen its support surge to its highest level in the latest Sunday Business Post/Red C poll.

It is up by three points to a record 9 per cent after extensive coverage of its attempt to pass an abortion referendum bill in the Dáil last week. The bill was defeated but party TDs such as Brid Smith, Ruth Coppinger, Paul Murphy and Richard Boyd Barrett all featured prominently in the debate.

The poll of 1,000 voters, which was carried out between Monday and Thursday last week, is also the first to show the impact of the Budget on party support.

Fianna Fáil, which played a key role in budget negotiations, has actually dropped in support by one point to 26 per cent. It has now lost support in the last four Red C polls in a row. However, it still remains the most popular party among those polled.

Fine Gael did not make any gains from the budget two weeks ago with its support unchanged at 25 per cent. But the Independent Alliance is up by two points to 6 per cent. Support for other Independents, which includes the likes of Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone, Communications Minister Denis Naughten and Independent TDs in opposition, is unchanged at 10 per cent.

While the AAA-PBP party has made gains, they appear to be at the expense of Sinn Féin, which is down by two points to 13 per cent, and Labour, which drops by two points to 5 per cent. The Green Party is up by one point to 3 per cent, while the Social Democrats are down by one to 3 per cent.

For a full breakdown and analysis see tomorrow's Sunday Business Post.

How they stand:

Fianna Fáil 26 (-1)

Fine Gael 25 (no change)

Sinn Féin 13 (-2)

Independents 10 (no change)

AAA-PBP 9 (+3)

Independent Alliance 6 (+2)

Labour 5 (-2)

Social Democrats 3 (-1)

Green Party 3 (+1)

Total: 100