Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

We get some of that in Tallaght. Not like in Davos though. The event consists of politicians prostrating themselves before the economic elite, doing business deals and demonstrating that they are safe pairs of hands for capitalism.

In that respect, I am interested in what the Taoiseach discussed at the impromptu meeting he had with our 1%, Mr. Denis O'Brien, who was not there for no reason. He was there for economic reasons and to maximise profit through political influence.

I return to the Oxfam report raised by Deputy Boyd Barrett. Has the Taoiseach read the report or the summary of it? How does he feel about a world that is so racked with inequality? In the last year, the top 1% got 82% of all the wealth generated and the bottom 50%, or 3.7 billion people, got nothing. There are over 2,000 billionaires, with two being created each day. Oxfam calculates that two thirds of those billionaires' wealth is the product of inheritance, monopoly and cronyism. How does the Taoiseach feel about the role Ireland plays in deepening inequality? That was exposed by what Joseph Stiglitz said at Davos on the role Ireland plays in a race to the bottom in terms of corporate tax, both in the headline rate and the effective rate. In 1980, total corporation profits were approximately €2 billion. They are approximately €7.5 billion now but the total amount of tax paid by corporations has only slightly increased. The responsibility for that lies with countries like Ireland which engage in tax haven behaviour and a race to the bottom in a programme of so-called tax competition, where the only winners are the big multinationals and the losers are public services in this country and in developing countries.

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