Madam, - In his condemnation of the Government, Jerry Crowley (May 23rd) states that they have "pursued policies which have made the gap between rich and poor in our society wider than ever".
This mantra of the rich becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer, that we hear being trotted out on a daily basis, whether in the media or on the street, is simply not true.
The Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) measures, amongst other things, the "inequality of income distribution" in EU countries, including Ireland.
This measurement is defined as "the ratio of total income received by the 20 per cent of the population with the highest income to that received by the 20 per cent of the population with the lowest income".
Here income is defined as equivalised disposable income.
In both 1995 and 1996, this ratio for Ireland was 5.1, meaning that our 20 per cent bracket of highest earners had disposable income 5.1 times that of our 20 per cent bracket of lowest earners.
In 2005 (most recent validated data) this ratio had fallen to 5.0 for Ireland, making us a fairer and more equal country that we were before Bertie Ahern first came to power. - Yours, etc,
THEO RYAN, Esker Hills, Portlaoise, Co Laois.