Who really took the hits in Ireland's Bailout- 2013

Analysis shows poorest 10% took biggest hit since the crash.  Latest statistics show poorest 10% of population lost 18.4% of real disposable income compared to 11.4% loss among the richest 10% since the crash of 2008.

• Situation worse if cuts in services and increased charges are included in calculations.
• 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 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.

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.

Government did have choices in recent years and could have introduced fairer budgets. Instead the choices they did make increased inequality in Ireland. Ireland had to reduce its budget deficit in recent years but research produced by the IMF shows that how Ireland’s Government chose to do this was always likely to produce greater inequality and higher levels of unemployment. Other options were available to Government but they choose to protect the rich at the expense of the rest of us.