Workers Party Councillor Davy Walsh has described calls from economists and others for the taxing of the state pension
as despicable and he has instead called for the introduction of a wealth tax and a relentless pursuit of tax dodgers.
The Waterford city councillor said that economists demanding cuts in the state pension were living in “cloud cuckoo
land” if they believed that the elderly or the poor could afford to make any further sacrifices to pay for a crisis
which they had neither hand, act, nor part in creating.
“Once again we have well heeled economists and out of touch commentators demanding taxation or cuts in the state
pension. We have similar calls in relation to social welfare and taxation of
the low paid. These people totally ignore the fact that some of the wealthiest
people in this country, some of them multi-billionaires, pay little or no tax and use a whole range of loopholes to minimise
their tax liability. Instead they go for the soft targets, the old, the poor
and the vulnerable”, said Cllr. Walsh.
He said that there was a small but powerful elite in this country who are economically unaffected by the current recession. “One only has to look at the 61,000 high end luxury cars sold in the first six
months of 2010 and the huge demand for marina berths for yachts to see that wealth is not in short supply for those at the
top of our society. These are the people who can afford to pay more and must
be made pay their fair share”.
“The Workers Party calls for the introduction of a wealth tax, but not a tax on the family home, to target those
with real wealth in this country. That means those investing in expensive works
of art, racehorses and property purely for investment purposes. We have
being saying it for years – Tax the Greedy, Not the Needy”, Cllr. Walsh stated.
