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

Dr. Cassidy appears to be saying that there will be no austerity for now but the level of the debt we have taken on means the potential of some hard choices coming at a certain point. Perhaps Dr. Cassidy will think this is getting into the political area, or whatever, but does he want to comment on the Oxfam report? I know that the Central Bank produces reports on wealth and its distribution. The Oxfam report, The Inequality Virus, states that, in Ireland and globally, huge numbers of ordinary people have lost jobs and incomes and have really suffered while a significant cohort of billionaires, the super wealthy and certain industries with which they are associated have done extraordinarily well and have seen their wealth increase significantly. That is true in Ireland. The report states that the wealth of Ireland's billionaires has increased by €3.3 billion. Has Dr. Cassidy any comment on that? Do the Central Bank figures on wealth accumulation bear that out? If Dr. Cassidy is not going to comment on what we should do in the areas of wealth and redistribution, would he agree that taxing such individuals is certainly something that should be considered as an option?

It is being considered as an option and, in some cases, acted on in some countries. Countries like Chile and some others have introduced Covid-related wealth taxes. Rather than debt-financing Covid expenditure, they have at least opened up the option of taxes on those who have done well from Covid, and the very wealthy, to pay for the cost of the Covid crisis.