Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It points out also that in terms of income inequality, it has been broadly stable for a very long time in Ireland. Therefore, the narrative that inequality is widening and that poverty is getting worse in Ireland is not correct. The TASC report, CSO data and EUROSTAT data all bear that out. It points out, as Deputy Burton rightly pointed out, that the tax and welfare systems are highly progressive, with the richest 10% paying about 80% of income taxation, and that the taxation system is funding a welfare system that distributes so well that this is a country that is no less and no more unequal than developed countries in the rest of the world. If one looks at the report, it indicates that Ireland has a real issue with low pay but not actually in cash terms. The minimum wage is now the second highest. If one compares pay levels across the public sector and the private sector with the exact same for people working in other countries, pay levels here are actually higher, but they are low relative to the fact that we have a lot of people in Ireland on high pay rates, particularly professionals and people who work in the multinationals. It is a more complex picture than perhaps is understood by Deputies, at least judging from their comments. The minimum wage has increased considerably in recent years, I think by about 25% under the Government.

See this speech in context