Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group)
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5. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has read the most recent Credit Suisse global wealth report; if so, his views on the staggering inequalities it suggests in the distribution and concentration of wealth here; if, given this report it is now a matter of urgent priority for the Government to establish a database on wealth distribution and to place a wealth tax on assets of households in excess of €1 million to ensure greater equality in the distribution of wealth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1427/16]

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group)
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This question asks whether, in view of the staggering inequalities in wealth in Ireland, the Minister will establish a database on wealth and whether he will introduce a wealth tax for households with wealth in excess of €1 million.

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Healy for this question. The Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2015 provides a range of data in the area of global household wealth, its composition and distribution over the period 2000 to 2015. The report covers all regions and countries and brings together available data from a variety of sources. The authors of the report acknowledge the study of global household wealth is still in an early stage of development and that no country in the world has completely reliable information on personal wealth. This obliged them to assemble and process information from a variety of different sources. The authors state that much work remains to be done to refine estimates of wealth by country and to improve the estimates of wealth distribution within countries.

The most comprehensive source of information on wealth distribution in Ireland is the household finances and consumption survey, HFCS, released by the Central Statistics Office earlier this year. The data relate to 2013 and indicate that wealth inequality in Ireland for that year, as measured by the Gini coefficient, is lower than the euro area average. The results also show that wealth is less concentrated at the top of the distribution here in Ireland than the euro area average.

Ireland already taxes wealth in a variety of ways, such as capital gains tax, CGT, and capital acquisitions tax, CAT, which are levied on an individual or company on the disposal of an asset in the case of CGT or the acquisition of an asset through gift or inheritance in the case of CAT. Deposit interest retention tax, DIRT, is charged at 41%, with limited exemptions, on interest earned on deposit accounts. The local property tax, which was introduced in 2013, is a tax based on the market value of residential properties. The domicile levy introduced in budget 2010 also constitutes a form of wealth tax. It is aimed at high wealth individuals with a substantial connection to Ireland, regardless of whether they are tax resident, to ensure they make a tax contribution to this country in a year of at least €200,000.

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group)
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The Credit Suisse bank report shows the top 10% own 58.6% of wealth, while the top 5% and top 1% own 46.4% and 27% of the wealth, respectively. This concentration of wealth at the very top is extraordinary on any democratic basis. Moreover, the most affluent 20% in Ireland own 73% of the country's wealth, while the poorest 20% owned just 0.2%. The poorest 10% have negative wealth, while the combined wealth of the top 5% is nearly double that of the entire middle 60%.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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A question please. Thank you.

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group)
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In view of these extraordinary levels of wealth at the very top, I again ask the Minister whether he will impose a wealth tax on households with wealth in excess of €1 million. In addition, will he create a database of wealth?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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There are not recent reliable data in Ireland on wealth distribution. It has only been very recently, particularly in the Central Statistics Office report published in 2015, that reliable data have been emerging. These data indicate that wealth inequality in Ireland for 2013, that is, the year examined, is lower than the eurozone average as measured by the Gini coefficient. The results also show that wealth is less concentrated at the top of the distribution here in Ireland than the eurozone average. Central Bank analysis of the data also indicates that while wealth inequality has increased since 2011, it is actually lower than was the case in 2006, the earliest period for which data are available.

As part of the research programme agreed between my Department and the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, covering macroeconomic and taxation issues, a research project involving detailed analysis of wealth distribution and taxation has been included. It is intended that this research project, based on the household finance and consumption survey published in 2015 by the CSO will commence shortly. It should be noted that the data gathered by the CSO as part of the HFCS were not collected for the purposes of calculating the potential yield from a wealth tax but to collect general information on the financial situation and behaviour of households. As I have stated on a number of occasions, the Government has no plan to introduce a wealth tax although all taxes and potential taxation options of course are constantly reviewed.

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group)
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The most recent institutional sector accounts published by the Central Statistics Office show that net financial assets of households are €25 billion above peak boom levels. They have grown massively over the past five years and there is no levy, charge or tax on them. In addition, the Central Bank report for the third quarter of 2015 reported that Irish household net worth was €595.7 billion, which is €13 billion higher than was the case for the previous three months. These figures represent obscene levels of wealth at the very top of society. Is it not possible and right to tax these levels of wealth to ensure public services in the hospitals and educational system? I suggest the Minister does this immediately.

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As the economy recovers, obviously the value of assets is increasing. However, there are capital taxes in Ireland which are, in effect, wealth taxes. When assets are transferred on the death of an owner, inheritance tax applies and if assets are transferred prior to someone's death, gift tax then applies. In addition, money on deposit in banks is liable to a DIRT rate of 41%, which also is a form of wealth tax. The residential property tax is a tax on homes, that is, it is a tax on fixed assets and that also is a wealth tax.

There is an inconsistency among the Opposition spokespersons in that they want to abolish the lawful property tax, which, effectively, is a strong tax based on the value of assets, and at the same time are calling for the introduction of a wealth tax. The Deputies cannot have it both ways.