Gap between rich and poor widens, says group

THE gap between rich and poor is wider than ever, according to a study published today.

The report says the Government cannot deliver its promises on social housing, social welfare, and public transport, while retaining the lowest tax-take of any EU country.

The annual review of government policy by the CORI Justice Commission, an umbrella group for religious orders, shows a trend of growing poverty rates, a widening gap between rich and poor and comparatively low levels of government spending on social protection.

The report states: "The Government's policy focus will ensure substantial numbers of people are condemned to live in social exclusion and substantially larger numbers of people will be forced to accept a poor quality of life for the foreseeable future."

The CORI report says small tax increases would be sufficient to tackle these areas without leaving any significant negative impact on the economy. An analysis of household income studies shows the gap between rich and poor widened throughout the 1990s, while latest data shows a further shift towards the well-off.

It shows the top 10% of earners benefited disproportionately from the economic boom in contrast to the rest of the population.

"In the context of economic growth and prosperity, the gap between rich and poor has further widened," the report says. "Never before has the distribution of income in Ireland been so unequal. New government priorities are urgently required."

Ireland's tax-take is also the lowest in the EU, the report shows, leaving less amount of money available for spending on social exclusion.

Indeed, the report says spending on health, disability, social welfare and anti-poverty measures are the lowest in the EU.

While Ireland spends 14.7% of its gross domestic product or national income on social protection, the next lowest is Spain (20%), while Sweden spends almost twice the Irish level (32.9%).

The report says there are four priority areas that have to be addressed by the Government immediately, or else people's quality of life in Ireland will remain second class. These include:

* Paying "fairer" taxes, by bringing the tax take towards the European average, without penalising the less well-off.

* Tackling the exclusion of marginalised groups such as the poor, disabled, Travellers and asylum seekers.

* Increased Government spending, given the healthy surplus available for day to day spending

* Targeting funding towards infrastructure, such as roads, railways, and social services, such as health and education.