– Ireland has the second highest number of millionaires in the EU.

– The 300 richest people in Ireland are worth close to €50bn.

– Excluding housing values the top 1% control 34% of Ireland’s wealth.

– The government plans to cut expenditure, services and infrastructure twice as much as they plan to raise in taxes in Budget 2012.  The services that they will cut are more likely to be used by the 99% and thus cuts in those services will affect those on low incomes far more disproportionally.

– Over €8 million paid to 109 former government ministers in the form of ministerial/TD pensions. 30 of whom earn over €100,000 in pensions alone.

The campaign launched this week is not about increasing income tax and charges for those on low incomes but about taxing wealth and creating growth.  Something which successive governments have failed to do and the richest in Ireland have constantly found ways of avoiding taxes or have benefited from tax avoidance schemes.

Since activation is the topic de jour how about we activate some of the richest people in this still very wealthy country to step up to the plate and pay their fair dues?

This solidarity (because their country needs them!) could look like

1. A levy on assets and property worth over €1 million
2. High net worth Irish citizens paying their dues here so that the number of tax exiles decreases
3.  Eliminating tax breaks for those with high incomes so that they pay their fair share
4. A levy on financial transactions over significant amounts (Tobin Tax)
5. A higher tax rate on incomes over €100k

Claiming Our Future are calling on a change in the choices that are being made and the impacts of those choices.  Austerity harms our chances of recovery far more than taxing wealth ever will.

More on this campaign and how you can take action is available on the Claiming Our Future website. There is a lot more you can do other than signing a petition.  Start talking to friends, family and your public representatives about the values you want in society, the fairer, more equitable sharing of the load and the fact that cuts to services and incomes of the less well paid effect our economy badly as more people have less money to spend.

There is an alternative.