The Government was called on today to make radical changes to structures and systems in the State to promote an equal distribution of resources and economic success.
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Speaking at the launch of a new book today, commissioned by the Combat Poverty Agency, Sr Stanislaus Kennedy of Focus Ireland criticised the Government’s social and economic policies. "People are not economic variables," she said.
Sr Stanislaus said the book, Rich & Poor, Perspectives on Tackling Inequality in Ireland,should never have been written because "there is no excuse for the poverty and inequality in a society of sustained economic growth."
Rich & Poorsays Ireland has one of the lowest levels of public spending in the industrialised world, and outlines how wealth inequalities could be countered with higher levels of public spending.
In its foreward, CPA advises the Government to redress what it calls the widening imbalances in Irish society by increasing public spending in areas such as health, education and social welfare.
CPA director Mr Hugh Frazer said Ireland is one of the most unequal societies in the EU, with social expenditure dropping to 24 per cent of GNP since the late 1980s. This compares to 51.5 per cent of GDP in Denmark and 52.2 per cent in Sweden.
Rich & Poorexamines social spending patterns and notes that the welfare system rather than the tax system carries the main role of redistributing income. It also says the proportion of new house buyers who are already owner-occupiers has risen from 36 per cent in 1994 to 50 per cent in 1998.
Sr Stanislaus said the book was "a challenge to all of us . . . we now know that prosperity of itself does not reduce inequality but an cause even greater ones."