Ireland’s wealthiest citizens are doing nicely, according to the latest report by Oxfam, issued to coincide with the start of the Davos summit, which will be attended by many of the super-rich from across the world. It calculates the number of Irish billionaires rose from nine to 11 last year and their combined wealth increased by more than one third of just over ¤50 billion. While Oxfam does not list the 11, previous rich lists have shown that it includes international business figures with an Irish passport, as well as names more familiar to an Irish audience.
The rise of the super-rich is, of course, a global phenomenon, with Oxfam estimating that there were 204 new entrants to the billionaire category in 2024. The resulting inequality – and the feeling that ordinary people have seen incomes stagnating while the rich cash in – is, of course, a key factor that has stoked discontent with neoliberal politics. That one result of this has been the election of Donald Trump – supported by a squad of oligarchs – is deeply ironic.
A key argument of the Oxfam report is that much of the wealth of the world’s richest is inherited, or a result of an economic system which exploits the Global South and has little regard to climate change. Some, too, is earned from ingenuity and business success, though the yawning gap that has opened up between the super rich and the rest of society has raised issues, such as the ability of the wealthiest to arrange their affairs so they often pay little tax on their income.
This tax issue has found its way into discussions at the highest political level, but this looks unlikely to progress with Trump now in office. The international nature of the business of the super-wealthy means national efforts to tax their wealth are likely to only have limited success.
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In Ireland, taxes on wealth generally are low and it was seen as a key source of potential new revenue by the commission on tax. The election debate on inheritance tax showed how politically charged this topic is. It is an issue that Ireland should address, but with the budget in surplus this looks unlikely to happen any time soon.