Oxfam calls for tax on super rich as Ireland’s billionaires got €13bn wealthier last year

Oxfam Ireland CEO Jim Clarken said Donald Trump, who is backed by the world's richest man, Elon Musk, will be 'a president of and for billionaires'. Picture: AP

Ireland’s billionaires added an additional €13bn to their wealth last year, the equivalent to €35.6m each day, according to a new report from Oxfam Ireland.

The charity called for greater taxation on extreme wealth as its latest report, Takers not Makers, found that it now takes just five days for those in the richest 1% of the population to earn what someone in the bottom 50% of the population earns in a year.

The charity says the rapid increase in the wealth of elites in Ireland is representative of international tends which saw billionaire wealth surge by $2 trillion (€1.95tn) in 2024.

Globally, nearly four new billionaires were minted every week last year. If these trends continue, to accelerate, Oxfam predicts that the world will have at least five trillionaires by 2035.

Oxfam’s report was published to coincide with both the annual gathering of billionaires at the Swiss resort of Davos, and Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president of the US.

Oxfam Ireland chief executive Jim Clarken said the capture of the global economy by a privileged few has now “reached heights once considered unimaginable”.

Oxfam Ireland CEO Jim Clarken said the capture of the global economy by a privileged few has now 'reached heights once considered unimaginable'. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins 

He said this unprecedented acceleration of the wealth of the world’s richest individuals is coming during a period in which their influence and power is also skyrocketing.

Mr Clarken also predicted that Donald Trump will be “a president of and for billionaires” who will use his power over the world’s largest economy “to slash taxes for the ultra-rich and mega-corporations at the expense of everyone else”.

He stated that Oxfam’s latest report challenges the popular perception that the vast wealth of billionaires “is deserved or based on merit”.

“Oxfam calculates that 36% of billionaire wealth is now inherited," he said.  

This report shows how extreme wealth is not simply a function of talent or ingenuity alone but built on the back of the work of countless others and taxpayer investment. 

“Meanwhile, global poverty remains at 1990 levels. We must first acknowledge the disparity and set about reversing the trend." 

Oxfam says the findings of its latest report demonstrate that global inequality is is built upon “a legacy of historical colonialism”.

The report states that 77% of the world’s billionaire wealth is now concentrated in the global north, despite these countries accounting for just 21% of the global population.

Low- and middle-income countries, the report notes, are now spending on average nearly half of their national budgets on debt repayments.

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Aside from calling for greater taxation of extreme wealth in Ireland, Oxfam Ireland urged the next Government to advocate for debt cancellation, living wages, and fair-trade practices, to commit to climate justice by ramping up domestic climate action, and to provide greater financial support to countries in the global south experiencing climate breakdown and related hunger and conflict.