One More Thing:Billionaire investor Warren Buffett made something of a splash this week when he criticised the US tax system for allowing him to pay a lower rate than his secretary and cleaner.

Buffett said at a fundraiser for Senator Hillary Clinton that he was taxed at 17.7 per cent last year on earnings of $46 million, while his secretary was taxed at 30 per cent on a wage of $60,000.

"If you're in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent."

Judged by Forbes magazine to have $52 billion in the bank, Buffett could well afford the $4,600 fee for a seat at Hillary's dinner.

His remarks stand as the latest contribution to a debate raging in the US and Britain about growing income inequality and lax taxation of the superwealthy beneficiaries of the private equity boom.

They are not without resonance in Ireland, where official records consistently show that some of the wealthiest citizens pay little or no tax at all. And that's not including the tax exiles who choose not to reside here in order to minimise their exposure to tax.

In 2000 and 2001, for example, almost 30 people whose income was more than €1 million paid little or no tax. A further 67 people who received between €500,000 and €1 million paid tax at the marginal rate, and 10 earning that amount paid no tax at all!That's disheartening in the extreme to the overwhelming majority of people who have no option at all but to pay the full whack year after year. Tax is a necessary evil, but is an evil that should be spread equally.

Buffett noted he didn't even try to avoid paying higher tax last year. Having pledged to give his fortune away, he is well-qualified to sermonise on tax.

This particular big-timer is on the side of small guys. Are there any superwealthy Irish out there of the same mind?