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

I thank Mr. Clarken and Mr. Murtagh of Oxfam and Professor Killian for their contributions. I am very glad the committee is examining this. As Mr. Clarken said, it is a discussion whose time has come. I would say it is overdue but it has never been more appropriate that it should happen. I overwhelmingly agree with what Oxfam said. What it is proposing in its wealth tax proposal is, if not exactly the same, then very similar to what People Before Profit have proposed for a number of years in our submissions. With us, it is also about trying to trigger a conversation, which is the important point. I would be interested in the witnesses’ views as to why it has not been a major conversation.

Maybe I am a nerd, but I read these Central Bank reports that come out. Maybe Oxfam could talk a little more about its sources, but we put our wealth tax proposal together largely by looking at the Central Bank quarterly report – I think it is the fourth quarter when it usually brings that out, although the witnesses can correct me. The report shows the net household assets and the increase on the previous year, and although it is amazing what is happening, it is not discussed.

This year, as we see from our budget submission, for the first time, net household wealth has gone over €1 trillion and there has been an increase of €134 billion in just one year. The witnesses might say a word on the distribution question because there is not enough information about that distribution, and it relates to what Professor Killian said about the register and about getting some detail on this and estimating the distribution of it. The committee secretariat in its paper, which it bases on CSO data, is saying that the top 10% have 49% of that, and I have also seen estimates that suggest the 10% have maybe 53%, but it is in that kind of territory. I see the Oxfam paper is saying that the richest 1% gained 63% of the net wealth created between 2020 and 2021, although that is a global figure.

They are remarkable figures and most ordinary people would be shocked to discover this. That increase has been consistent for pretty much the past decade and, except for the depths of the austerity period, we have consistently seen those increases. What is Oxfam's view on why there is no conversation on this, given there virtually is none? In fact, if you do bring it up as a conversation, invariably, somebody will say, “Oh, Deputy Boyd Barrett thinks there is a magic money tree out the back garden somewhere but there is not.” However, the Oxfam figures and the Central Bank figures bear out that while it is not quite a magic money tree, there is real wealth out there and it is at staggering levels.

Why is that conversation not happening? How do we start to compile this register? What do we know at the moment about how that distribution is assessed, even between financial assets and property assets? We often hear the argument that it is all just the value of property inflating and it is not really extra wealth that could be taxed. That is another narrative I hear in response: you are wasting your time, really, because you are just talking about taxing people's family homes. Our proposal and the Oxfam proposal are largely not about that and they are largely about surplus wealth. The witnesses might comment on that. They might also say something about other jurisdictions that have done or are doing this, and what the experience has been there. That will do for a start.