Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This questions and answers session on the Cabinet sub-committee on social policy has been instructive. It is the stark core on which our discussion should be, particularly with the upcoming October budget. The inequality is measurable. It is not an opinion or impression. Rather, it is data based. I hope the Taoiseach got the chance to read Fr. Peter McVerry's opinion or analysis piece last Friday, the short opening sentences of which outlined the facts. Mr. Wilbur Ross made a profit of €500 million on an investment of €290 million in Bank of Ireland, which was a one-way bet only for profit. I told the Taoiseach before the bank's capitalisation not to sell 35% of half the country's banking infrastructure to a group of people for €1.1 billion. It was unwise.

Regarding how the country's social fabric stands, the Taoiseach mentioned 68 jobs in Dundalk. That is great and we are all in favour of jobs, including Deputy Boyd Barrett, but thousands of families are being pushed to the extreme situation of having their homes possessed by banks. Banks are behaving appallingly and are out of control. They should stop what they are doing.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has provided statistics and called for courage and leadership. Distributive economics have been pointed out in data-based research by Professor Joseph Stiglitz in his book on inequality that I gave to the Taoiseach before Christmas and by Professor Thomas Piketty in his book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century. They are not celebrity economists. They are serious people who have undertaken data-based research to show the situation without emotion. It is a fact that the distribution of income and wealth in our society has become grossly unequal. The way of dealing with this situation is called social policy. The stock market has been totally recovered since before-----

See this speech in context