Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We will set that aside.

I also play the policy and not the man. What the Minister is not acknowledging in his answer, which made reference to the Gini coefficient and so on, is that there have been a succession of reports showing that there has been a very significant jump in the wealth of those at the very top. The Wealth-X report during the week said that the number of high net worth individuals in Ireland who have between €30 million and €50 million each jumped last year by 6%, and those 1,300 individuals now have between them €133 billion in personal wealth. I find it extraordinary that we would not think about taxing them specifically on their wealth. Whatever can be said about comparing inequality, the fact of the matter is that on a global level, and Ireland is no exception, inequality is growing. In the Minister's stance is there any recognition that we need to begin to redistribute wealth to deal with growing inequality in this country and elsewhere?

Is the Minister going to revisit the 9% VAT rate, given the profits in that sector? Has he worked out how much extra money would be available if the rate was restored to the previous rate?

To what extent does the Minister put the low receipts of income tax down to people in low paid, precarious, part-time work?