Don’t believe the lies – Ireland is still rich

An essential ideological pillar of the attacks on workers and unemployed people over the past number of years is the idea that Ireland is broke.  The impression is given that the wealth created during the Celtic Tiger (where the top 1% of the population gained €75 billion) has simply disappeared.

An essential ideological pillar of the attacks on workers and unemployed people over the past number of years is the idea that Ireland is broke.  The impression is given that the wealth created during the Celtic Tiger (where the top 1% of the population gained €75 billion) has simply disappeared.

Some recent research by CIT economist, Tom O’Connor, updating the 2006 Bank of Ireland report, “Wealth of the Nation”, detailed the ongoing wealth of the super-rich in Ireland. In 2006, the 33,000 millionaires in Ireland held a total wealth (not including their primary homes) of €156 billion. As a result of the collapse in the property market, this wealth has declined, but O’Connor still estimates that they still hold €121 billion.

The US Treasury released figures identifying the location of major holders of US debt in the form of bonds. Irish residents held $50 billion worth of US Treasury securities – almost as much as Germany and twice as much as France! In total, $1.3 trillion is held in securities and foreign equities by Irish residents – over $250,000 per person in Ireland! This figure includes holdings of companies as well as individuals resident in Ireland, and may have gone down slightly, but nevertheless gives lie to the notion of Ireland being poor!

Another major source of wealth in Ireland is the gas and oil found under Irish waters in the Atlantic Ocean. The government’s estimate is that there are 10 BBOE (billion barrels of oil equivalent) in the Rockall and Porcupine basins, off Ireland’s west coast. At the current price of $100 a barrel, this works out at $1 trillion, or about €750 billion. This figure could prove to be an underestimate, as it does not include reserves off the south coast!

So while the average major oil producing state has a stake of 68% in oil and gas finds, the Irish state has a 0% stake, having given away our natural resources to the likes of Shell! Countries like France, Norway and Switzerland have 1% wealth taxes – such a tax would raise over €1 billion in Ireland, while a steeper wealth tax of 5% would generate €6 billion – the total of the cuts and tax increases in the Budget.

 

Total
0
Shares
Previous Article

Sinn Fein: a genuine alternative?

Next Article

Socialist Party criticises SIPTU leadership for call to members to vote Labour

Related Posts
Read More

No bailout for real victims of property crash

SARAH BOUGHT her one bedroom apartment in Swords for €300,000- her mortgage repayments are €1,450 a month. When her job relocated down the country, she had little choice but to move. With the apartment now valued at €170,000, she can’t sell it, and has no choice but to rent it out bringing in €750 and leaving her to add another €700 every month.

Read More

Austerity Budget means unemployment, poverty and economic crisis

The budget cuts are hitting families all over the country this month. For the poorest and most vulnerable, social welfare and child benefit cuts have made the struggle for survival all the harder. The basic social welfare cut of €416 a year is massive, a loss of more than two week’s income for people who struggle to make ends meet is draconian.

Read More

Bag men for the banks

The one section of the the establishment which has so far escaped scot-free are the auditing firms, in particular the “Big 4”, KPMG, PWC, Ernst & Young and Deloitte. These firms gave a clean bill of health to the banks as late as 2008.