Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Pringle and his group not just for introducing the Bill but, as has been alluded to previously, for all of the attempts he has made to bring about this vital reform. Anyone who studies politics will know Sinn Féin has a long track record of supporting, proposing and bringing about legislative reforms to enhance people's economic, social and cultural rights.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is an extremely important document. As many Deputies have already pointed out, however, it has no real legal standing in the eyes of the law in this State. It is hard not to conclude, given the efforts made by Teachtaí, that this is not actually a deliberate tactic on the part of successive Governments. Like all charters, covenants and treaties that concern economic equality and social justice, it is not directly enforceable in the courts. The reason such charters to ensure economic social and cultural rights are never incorporated into law is because successive Governments know the depth and scale of inequality that exists in the State. They also should be aware of their culpability for the depth of inequality that exists in our State. We know there is inequality at both ends of the scale. Too many have too little, while many have, what any reasonable person would class, as too much.

The Inequality Virus, a report published by Oxfam on Monday last, indicates that Irish billionaires have increased their collective wealth by €3.3 billion since the beginning of this pandemic. This exposes the myth that we are all in this together during the pandemic. The truth is contained within the pages of the report. Since the global pandemic began, billionaire wealth has increased by $3.9 trillion. Closer to home, Irish billionaires have enjoyed a dividend of €3.3 billion. At the same time, workers have found themselves overworked, underpaid or laid off.

The UN Secretary General has stated that this pandemic is like an X-ray, exposing the fractures in our society and our economy. In Ireland, it has further underscored a broken housing market, an economy built on low pay and a level of the underprovision in the context of public services.

While so many are struggling, the richest are flourishing. They are doing so well. They are having a fantastic pandemic. Those who are on ordinary incomes, those who are dependent on social welfare, those who get up early in the morning and work ten or 20 times harder than the billionaires are not having a good pandemic. The billionaires are though. They are getting a dividend from this pandemic, while most ordinary people are going to emerge from the aftermath of this global health crisis with more debt and probably more insecurity with regard to their housing, while having lost out on the capacity to take annual leave while they have been in work. All of this will happen to them. The good news for those who are on the side of the elite is there is a massive dividend for billionaires in this pandemic. Let us think on that. There is a dividend for billionaires in the middle of a global health crisis.

The economic impact of this virus has been disproportionately felt by those on low pay, women and young workers. The pandemic has laid bare the market's inability to reflect the true value of essential services and the workers who deliver them. Oxfam's report also revealed the opportunity that has been presented to the mega-rich, an opportunity that, of course, they have exploited. That billionaires have enjoyed their massive dividend windfall on the back of suffering and insecurity is pretty much a grotesque indictment of how our economy is structured. While billionaires have recovered and prospered since the pandemic began, Oxfam warns of a lost decade for workers and families. It is the job of the Government to deliver economic justice. As Irish billionaires enjoy a Covid dividend, now is the time to introduce a progressive wealth tax on net assets above €1 million. Workers and families have borne the brunt of this pandemic. Now, the richest must pay their fair share. As we see this grotesque increase of wealth, ordinary people look on and see a broken housing system, underfunded public services, no statutory sick pay scheme, no living wage and no sign the Government will deliver one. The right of workers to collectively bargain has still not been delivered. The economic right to earn a living and to just and favourable conditions at work are, to my mind, pretty much basic fundamental rights as are the right of everyone to get organised, to join the trade union of their choice and to have the right to strike and withdraw their labour should they need to. If people think that governments composed of conservative parties will afford them economic social and cultural rights, they really need to think again. The rights we currently have, from the five-day week, annual leave, the right to access abortion and even the right to vote, were not given from above. They were fought for and they were won on the ground by workers and ordinary people.

The social rights that could be delivered by the insertion of this clause into the Constitution are extremely important. When I say them out loud, it is infuriating that anyone would be denied these, or that a State would be so unequal that these issues exist to such an extent. The right to social security, the right to an adequate standard of living, including food, clothing and housing, the continuous improvement of living conditions, the right to be free from hunger and the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health are some of the most basic things a person should expect and yet so many go without. The Government amendment states very simply, loudly and clearly that people should be let wait and that now is not the right time to do the right thing. It states that ordinary people can wait. The billionaires do not have to wait for their dividend because it has already happened. They are getting a nice little bump off the pandemic but the people who need the very basic fundamental rights that are contained in the motion can wait. The amendment states now is not their time, and that it is for the future, to be put off and to hit the can down the road. It states it is a conversation we should have and it is action we should take but not now, in a while and maybe later.

They hear what the Minister of State is saying and it really resonates with people when they see that inequality has been deepened during the pandemic. It was already awful and it is getting more awful for some. The attainment of basic human rights, as outlined by Teachta Pringle, has to wait.

That has to wait but the dividend for billionaires does not have to wait. A wealth tax on people who are worth more than €1 million has to wait but the billionaires get their dividend now. People see and hear very clearly what is going on.

I ask all Deputies to support this Bill. I ask the Minister of State, even at this stage, to please withdraw his amendment.

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