Ireland’s poorest 10% lost 18.4% of their real disposable income since the start of the crash in 2008. By contrast the richest 10% lost 11.4%. This is just one of the statistics which show that low and middle-income Ireland have borne the major brunt of adjustments over the past five years according to the most recent analysis from Social Justice Ireland entitled 'Who really took the hits during Ireland's Bailout?' The situation would be even worse if cuts in services and increased charges were included in calculations.


The analysis also shows that
• The gap between low and middle-income Ireland on the one hand and the rich on the other hand has widened dramatically.
• Budgets introduced under the tutelage of the Troika (2011-2014) were regressive, taking more as a percentage of income from those who have least. The real impact was even more regressive because this calculation does not include the impacts of reductions in services and increased charges introduced in these years, which impact disproportionately on the most vulnerable.
• The richest 20% of the population were the only ones whose share of the total disposable income grew significantly in this period. This confirms the widening gap between low and middle-income Ireland on the one hand and the richest 20% on the other.