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

I am not interested in cherry-picking data or statistics. I am a medical doctor by training. I take science and data seriously and I always like to see and know the numbers. When I seek the data, I seek them from reputable independent bodies such as the Central Statistics Office, CSO, or the Central Bank, which act independently and produce robust data that we can stand over. I tend to be a little more sceptical when it comes to surveys that are done by lobbyist groups, interest groups or NGOs because very often those data are non-scientific.

The facts are that the employment level is at the highest it has ever been in the State at 2.5 million and median incomes are rising, notwithstanding the impact of inflation. We would not see income tax receipts being as strong as they are if that were not the case. There are more people at work in the country than ever before, with employment growth in every region of the State. The highest employment growth last year was in the Deputy's region of the south west, followed closely by the south east.

The CSO compiles data on income distribution. It is contained in the survey on income and living conditions, SILC, which is published once a year. It is the only robust scientific data on income inequality. It measures something called the Gini coefficient. In Ireland, we have seen income inequality narrow and reduce in the last five to ten years. It is trending downwards, unlike in most developed countries. The number of people experiencing consistent poverty and of people at risk of poverty and deprivation can go up and down year by year, but it has been trending downward significantly over the past five or six years. Those are the facts. People are absolutely entitled to their opinions and ideologies but they are not entitled to their facts. Those are the facts for anybody who is interested in them.

However, I acknowledge that there are real risks, particularly with inflation being so high at 9% or 10%. It is the highest we have seen in 40 years. People are really feeling the pinch and there is a real risk this year that for the first time in a long time we will go backwards, with real incomes falling, increasing poverty levels and possibly increasing inequality. That is something I and the Government do not want to happen. That is why we are doing what we are doing - the measures we have introduced already, which I have outlined previously in the Dáil, measures that will take effect over the summer with regard to back to school and back to college and measures that will take place after budget day in September, immediately putting money in people's pockets, while more will be implemented in January. This is a dynamic response to a cost-of-living crisis which, unfortunately, is going to continue for some time.

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