Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move recommendation No. 22:

In page 112, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “Report on wealth tax

52.The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the potential revenue raised from, and distributional impact of, a wealth tax of 1 per cent on all households with assets of over 10 million euro.”.

The recommendation calls for a report on the potential revenue raised from, and distributional impact of, a wealth tax of 1% on all households with assets of over €10 million. According to Oxfam’s Survival of the Richest report, globally since 2020 the richest 1% has captured almost two thirds of all new wealth, nearly twice as much money as the bottom 99% of the world's population. Billionaire fortunes are increasing by $2.7 billion per day, even as inflation outpaces the wages of at least 1.7 billion workers. Food and energy companies have profiteered from the cost-of-living crisis, having more than doubled profits in 2022, paying out $257 billion to wealthy shareholders while over 800 million people did not have enough food. According to the report, a tax of up to 5% on the world’s multimillionaires and billionaires could raise $1.7 trillion per year, enough to lift two billion people out of poverty and fund a global plan to end hunger.

The recommendation proposes a 1% wealth tax on all households with assets of over €10 million. It is a modest proposal and one which should be urgently implemented. From the pandemic to the cost-of-living crisis to the climate crisis, companies are profiting from crises and governments are not willing to take on such profiteering. Ireland is a particularly bad example as our tax regime has negative implications for human rights and development globally. Earlier this year, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child called on the Irish Government to ensure its tax policies do not lead to corporate profit-shifting, which takes resources away from low-income countries and prevents them having the resources they need to protect and enhance children’s rights. That is just one example. I urge the Minister to give proper consideration to this proposal.