Irish society polarised as never before

Posted by admin on February 21, 2015

New research has shown the 26 County state is now the most unequal
country in the European Union for the distribution of income, and one of
the worst in the western world for health inequality.

A report by the TASC research institute shows the gap between rich and
poor is on the rise, with more than a third of all income concentrated
in the hands of the top 10 per cent of earners.

With one in five workers on low pay, the system in Ireland is in danger
of being “stretched to breaking point”, the report warns.

“Income inequality leads to poverty and social exclusion. But it also
lowers demand in the economy in a downward spiral of lost spending,”
said Nat O’Connor, director of Tasc.

“The concentration of income in fewer hands gives the wealthy more power
to lobby for tax cuts that will disproportionately benefit them.”

Meanwhile, separate international research has shown that the gap in
physical health between rich and poor young people is higher in Ireland
than in almost every other country in Europe or North America.

When life satisfaction was measured according to socioeconomic
background, Ireland ranked third worst in the world, after Greenland and
the Netherlands.

The findings come at a time when inequality is starting the dominate the
political agenda in Ireland.

After the European Union and the International Monetary Fund bailed out
the 26 County economy and its banks in 2008, socialists have argued that
the strict austerity conditions attached made the economy more
unsustainable, not less.

For decades to come, every child born in the state will inherit a debt
of some ten thousand euro as the state is forced to pay billions in
interest on its bailout loans.

With ever increasing taxes and charges, and government politicians
determined to re-inflate Ireland’s property bubble, the state remains one
of the five most expensive countries of Europe.

Irish families are facing life on the streets for the first time since
the great Hunger, according to leading homelessness campaigner Fr Peter
McVerry, as up to a hundred home repossessions go through the courts
every day.

Sinn Fein TD Peadar Toibin today welcomed the publication of the
inequality research.

“We know from Eurostat and OECD data that Ireland has one of the highest
rates of underemployment in the EU, and low pay in the developed world,”
he said.

“The challenges facing low income households have been compounded by
each of the regressive budgets introduced by Fine Gael and Labour over
the last four years.

“Tackling the prevalence of income inequality is fundamental to ensuring
Ireland’s recovery is fair and sustainable, but government’s attention
must be equally directed towards fair taxation, equitable public service
delivery and supports, as well as industrial relations policy.”