Worrying divide between rich and poor emerging

THE Government must act quickly to prevent a long-term gap opening up between rich and poor.

The State’s economic think-tank, the ESRI, said research showed much progress had been made in the fight against poverty but a worrying divide between the haves and have-nots was emerging.

“You have to acknowledge the real achievements made over a period of time,” said the ESRI’s research professor Christopher Whelan. “But there are real dangers if you have a long-term position of wage gap between the labour market and social welfare.”