Leo Varadkar, the current Fine Gael leader and Tánaiste said on social media:
“We have closed the gap between rich and poor over successive governments” and referenced an Irish Times link to an ESRI report which highlighted “consistently high incidence” of income poverty among certain groups.
Leo Varadkar may not have actually read the Irish Times article he referenced as in it’s first sentence he would have been disproven in his assumption that “we have closed the gap between rich and poor”.
The Irish Times reported “The Republic appears to be one the few developed countries that has avoided an increase in income inequality over the past three decades, according to a new study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).” This statement does not mean “we have closed the gap between rich and poor” as stated by Mr Varadkar. It means that Ireland has avoided an increase in income inequality.
The ESRI research found a “consistently high incidence” of income poverty and material deprivation among certain groups, most notably lone parents and those in households with no adult in paid work.
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