Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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96. To ask the Minister for Finance if he is aware of an organisation’s (details supplied) recent report on wealth inequality in Ireland, which found that the number of Irish persons with individual wealth of over €46.6 million has more than doubled between 2012 and 2022, rising from 655 to 1,435 people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11408/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of the data to which the Deputy refers; I am also aware of the latest data from the Central Bank of Ireland's Distributional Wealth Accounts which show that net wealth inequality has declined over the past decade. The Gini coefficient – a common measure of inequality – fell from 0.78 in the second quarter of 2013 to 0.68 in the first quarter of 2022.

The report to which the Deputy refers states that the bottom half of Irish society's share of wealth stands at 1.2 per cent. This figure is significantly impacted by the negative net wealth share of the bottom decile (-2.8 per cent). This is mostly likely due to borrowing to acquire current or future assets, such as a loan to support third-level education, business start-ups or where there has been a decline in house prices.

In contrast, official data from the CSO's Household Finance and Consumption Survey show that the bottom half of the income distribution's share of wealth is 7.8 per cent. Also, the wealth share of the bottom decile has improved from -3.5 per cent in 2013, to -0.6 per cent in 2020. This reflects a movement of people out of negative equity over the period; 75.8 per cent of households in the bottom wealth decile were in negative equity in 2013, compared to 6.4 per cent in 2020.

So, to summarise, official data paint a different picture.

On the wider policy perspective, let me restate that the Government is committed to creating a fairer, more equal Ireland. In this respect, Capital Gains Tax, Capital Acquisitions Tax and Local Property Tax all represent taxes on wealth. The Revenue Commissioners estimate that these taxes raised over €2.8 billion last year.

In addition to wealth taxes, the Government takes action against inequality through the broader tax and welfare system. In fact, Ireland has one of the most progressive systems of taxes and social transfers of any EU or OECD country, which contributes to the redistribution of income and to the reduction of income inequality.

The Revenue Commissioners estimate that the top 1 per cent of income earners, those earning in excess of €263,000 will pay 23 per cent of the total income tax and USC collected in 2023. Those earning less than €65,000 which represents the bottom 80 per cent of income earners, will contribute only 21 per cent of total income tax and USC receipts.