Ireland continues to move toward US levels of inequality
TASC recommends major changes to taxation policy
by Niall Shanahan
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A new report published by the independent, progressive think-tank, TASC, says that Ireland will continue to move closer to US levels of inequality unless there are major changes to economic and social policy, including taxation policy.
The report, Cherishing all Equally: Economic Inequality in Ireland, is the first detailed analysis of economic inequality in Ireland. TASC said it looks beyond income and wealth at a range of other issues including public services, taxation, family composition, people’s capacities and the cost of goods and services. TASC intends to publish an annual report analysing economic inequality.
The report reveals a number of key findings in relation to rising inequality in Ireland: - According to Revenue data, the top 1% of income earners in Ireland averaged €373,300 compared to €27,400 for the bottom 90%;
- The top 10% hold somewhere between 42% to 58% of Ireland’s wealth compared to 12% for the bottom 50%;
- Workers’ share of national income fell from 65% in 1990 to less than 56% in 2009.
Dr Nat O’Connor, TASC’s Research Director and one of the report’s authors, said that such high levels of economic inequality in Ireland are not inevitable and stressed that the levels of economic inequality are not the same in every country – other European countries have much lower levels of economic inequality compared to Ireland due to different policy choices in relation to taxation and the provision of public services.
The full report is available HERE.
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