Many people in precarious employment are putting their health at risk by not taking sick leave, while more are suffering with their mental health.

Wealth is health and vice versa according to a study confirming that high earners in Ireland have easier access to healthcare and rate their own health as better than those on low incomes.

People on zero-hour contracts or similar work situations are so financially precarious some are avoiding going to the doctor or delaying having children.

The report shows that Ireland's underlying inequality is masked by heavy social welfare subsidies to the unemployed, the sick and the elderly.

Candidates for jobs these days might celebrate when they get it, but they might not always have the rights of other employees, writes Michael Clifford.

The top 10% of Irish society hold more than half of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 50% have just 4.95% of it.

Women carry out 70% of the family care work in Ireland, thus limiting their earning power and reducing the size of their pension on retirement.

Child poverty almost doubled during the recession, a new report has found.

A new TASC report being published today has found an increase in bogus self-employment contracts here.

The tax system is facilitating bogus self-employment “at the click of a mouse” allowing employers to escape having to pay workers their entitlements.

A leading economist has expressed concern at the “dangerously high” level of personal debt being carried by the Irish public, with almost a doubling since 2001.

The rich are, and have always been, different. I suppose we should be grateful that they are now just stealing our money, not actually eating us. So, there has been some progress.

Electioneering is all about snappy promises and clever sound bites. There is little space for setting out a long-term vision. There are few votes in talking about sewers, drains or reservoirs, yet our capital investment spending is likely to determine the country’s prosperity 10 or 20 years down the line.

Former trade union leader David Begg has defended his appointment as chairman of a State board, saying his €20,500-a year pay for the role is “not a crock of gold”.

If there is to be greater equality, the price will have to be paid by ’middle income’ earners, writes Michael Clifford.

British Labour leader’s anti-austerity policies of a living wage and high taxation of the rich would be popular here, says Tom O’Connor. Would you vote for him? Take our poll.

A lobby group representing Ireland’s restaurants has urged the Government to resist calls to increase the minimum wage.

Millions of workers in developed countries such as Ireland risk being trapped in poverty, despite the economic recovery becoming widespread, according to the OECD.

More than three-quarters of the public support setting a ‘living wage’ as the country’s minimum wage level, according to an opinion poll.

More than a third of Ireland's income is in the hands of the top 10% of earners, a new report on economic equality has found.

A new survey shows more than 80% of people think boosting minimum wage, capping high pay and raising taxes will help to create a more equal society.

WHERE to go from here? 

On 31 March of this year the Constitutional Convention recommended to the Government, by an overwhelming majority of 85%, that economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights, such as healthcare, housing and social security, be given enhanced protection in the Irish Constitution. 

A property tax is an equitable form of taxation that is progressive and could form an important part of local authority funding, according to Tasc research director, Nat O’Connor.

Apple made an issue of the jobs in its Cork factory when working on a sweetheart tax deal with the Revenue Commissioners, according to the minutes of meetings between the two released by the European Commission.

More than half of taxpayers would benefit from a cut in the 52% marginal tax rate, according to the employers’ organisation, Ibec.

A spring budget should be brought in to give people earlier benefits from the improving economy, the chairman of the Dáil’s finance committee said.

Employers body Ibec has said increased wages for low-paid workers — as proposed by Labour — will have to wait until more investment is first pumped into the economy.

Three consecutive years of tax cuts are on the way, starting with the 52% rate the Taoiseach said — laying the foundation for the Coalition’s bid for a second term in office.

Workers who earn more than €100,000 a year should pay almost half of their salary to the Government.

The Jobs Minister Richard Bruton is rejecting calls for a higher tax rate for top earners.

Ireland is seeing a growth in economic inequality - with the gap widening between those who have jobs and those who don't, according to TASC.

A golden circle of a dozen or so large firms have an effective monopoly on handling EU bailouts and use them to their advantage, according to an investigation by international journalists.

Your recent front page headline, ‘Austerity filling the pockets of Ireland’s richest’ (Sept 12), confirms the previous evidence of our Government’s support for the wealthy at the expense of the middle and lower classes.

Austerity is filling the coffers of the country’s richest 10% and creating poverty among an increasing number of the general population, an EU-wide study has found.

Ireland’s carefully constructed corporate tax regime — credited with making the country a magnet for multinational companies — could be deconstructed within 24 months under an action plan being released today.

The problems facing Ireland and Spain are similar. Government solutions in both nations are failing, says Ignacio Saiz

An equality think-tank has piled more pressure on the Government to target highearners in the upcoming budget.

THE myth that crippling austerity measures have been anything other than disastrous for this country was finally nailed by this newspaper yesterday, when it revealed that the IMF hugely underestimated the devastating impact of a relentless programme of tax increases and spending cuts.

The IMF has admitted it completely underestimated the effects of austerity on the Irish economy and believed the tax increases and spending cuts would not have cost so many jobs.

The reduction in labour costs in Ireland has been described as “remarkable” by the European economics commissioner Olli Rehn, who said further falls were expected this year and next.

ECB president Mario Draghi has not shut the door on agreeing to help ease the burden of the €31bn Anglo Irish Bank promissory note bill.