Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

While this is a noble and good idea, unfortunately I do not know how practical it would be, as I am sure the Minister of State will lead us to understand. Wealth is highly mobile nowadays, which is why gold has doubled its value in the past three years and this has fed into a significant increase in the value in minerals, gold and stocks of that sort this year in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. For all of these people, their wealth is highly mobile and is all over the world; not just in Ireland. It is okay to say we have 300 people in Ireland with a net worth of a particular value and that it has increased by 7%. I would be fearful if we started heavy taxation and targeting a section of society made up of 300 people as they would simply move out of our country.Those figures have been proven. Different shifts in the past have resulted in such people moving out of our country. As the Minister of State will know, many of them employed a lot of people. There are many of the captains of industry located in Ireland. I would not be in favour of this move.