Irish Examiner view: Time for the rich to pay all their dues

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar: 'We don’t want to be part of any supply chain where people conceal assets.' Picture: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

The central theme which runs through the revelations contained in the latest mass data dump collectively known as the Pandora Papers is an arrogant message that has unfortunately held sway with a section of rich opinion for many years. It is that taxes are for small people.

There is nothing illegal in using offshore companies to manage assets although the practice lacks ethical foundation as we come out of the worst and most destructive pandemic any of us have experienced, one in which the rubric “we’re all in this together” has been quoted regularly to enhance social cohesion.