Madam, - Theo Ryan (June 5th) would have us believe that a decline over the past decade of 0.1 in the ratio of income received by the richest and poorest in our society is an indication of increasing equality and fairness. There are two flaws in this reasoning.
First, if the ratio of incomes remains essentially static while actual incomes rise, then the majority of additional money received will accrue to the wealthiest, as incomes must rise in proportion to the ratio for the ratio to be maintained. The doctor who earned €100,000 when the shop assistant earned €20,000 must see his or her income rise to €150,000 for the assistant to gain €10,000. Irrespective of whether government policies are to blame, as Jerry Crowley claims (May 23rd) and as Mr Ryan clearly disputes, the Eurostat figures tell us that of the two groups, the richest have acquired the substantially larger share of increase in national income.
Second, the report by Eurostat states that the widest inequality ratio was recorded in Portugal (7.2), while the lowest inequality ratio was recorded in the Nordic countries (3.1). A figure of 5.0 not only place us in a thoroughly average position in Europe, but suggests that, based on the last decade's rate of progress continuing, it will take us a further 190 years, or some 38 consecutive full-term FF governments, to join Europe's most equal. I will not hold my breath. - Yours, etc,
STEPHEN BARRETT, De Vesci Hill, Abbeyleix, Co Laois.
Madam, - Theo Ryan quotes EU statistics to suggest that Ireland has become more equitable since Bertie Ahern came to power. He indicates that the gap between the incomes of the top 20 per cent of the population and bottom 20 per cent declined from 5.1 times to 5.0 between 1995 and 2005, an improvement of 2 per cent.
If he had looked more closely at the figures he would have found that EU countries improved their overall score over the same period from 5.1 to 4.8, a 6 per cent improvement; Ireland's score improved by 12 per cent, from 5.1 in 1995 to 4.5 in 2001, and deteriorated by 11 per cent to 5.0 over the subsequent four years; and Ireland had the tenth widest gap between rich and poor out of 28 countries in 2005.
Ireland's score would need to fall to 4 to match the equality ratios in most Northern European states. At the current rate of progress, this will take 100 years. - Yours, etc,
BRIAN FLANAGAN, Ardmeen Park, Blackrock, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Theo Ryan (Letters, June 5th) paints less than a complete picture in relation to Eurostat measures of social inequality. He neglects to point out, for example, that Ireland's expenditure on social protection, as a percentage of GDP, fell from 20.2 per cent in 1993 to 16.5 per cent in 2003. The at-risk-of-poverty rate was 19 per cent in 1998 but 21 per cent in 2003. The poorest in Ireland are now more poor than in 1993, no matter how you use the figures. - Is mise,
MICHAEL BREEN, Head of Department, Media and Communication Studies, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick.