In Ireland today, the wealthiest 10 per cent own nearly half the wealth, while the bottom 50 per cent own less than 10 per cent. Providing housing for a rapidly growing population is proving challenging and there are more than 15,000 people in emergency accommodation.
Household income varies by region and by household composition, with lower average income in Donegal compared with parts of Dublin, and lower average income in households composed of adults living alone.
The situation is vastly better than in the 1950s or 1980s. A positive indicator is the existence of almost full employment today – although unemployment has risen slightly recently – compared with unemployment and emigration in the 1950s and 1980s.
Is Irish society in 2025 fair, so that all citizens have equality of opportunity?
Sixty years ago, in 1965, Fine Gael produced a document entitled Towards a Just Society. It was very much the brainchild of the late Declan Costello who wished to move his party somewhat to the left.
In an attempt to bridge the gap between its right wing, as exemplified by Gerard Sweetman and the left wing exemplified by himself, Costello asked Liam Cosgrave, later taoiseach, to chair the group. This was acknowledged by Costello in an RTÉ interview a fortnight before he had a stroke which would lead to his final illness.
The document stressed the existence of great poverty in Ireland at the time and said equality of opportunity was non-existent. It also stressed the social and economic thought of the Fine Gael party then was informed and moulded by the social doctrines contained in papal encyclicals.
The Just Society document aimed to achieve economic and social reform. It recommended the setting up of regional planning boards, which would work with local authorities and other local organisations to moderate regional differences.
However, the abolition of domestic rates by the Fianna Fáil government of 1977 dealt a blow to the autonomy and capacity of local authorities from which they have not recovered.
In the Just Society document, there were proposals for a complete reorganisation of the health services with funding based on insurance. There were also proposals on incomes policy involving greater co-operation with trade unions. Something in line with this suggestion would be created in the late 1980s in the form of Social Partnership.
Regarding credit policy, the document said that “neither the government nor the Central Bank have any control over domestic credit policy at the present time”. (How would it have viewed the banking fiasco of 2008? Did the Central Bank demonstrate more control in 2008?)
There were also proposals for taxation reform and a recognition that some increase in the level of taxation would be required to fund services.
Do we have a just society today? Perhaps the first fact to acknowledge is that population has almost doubled since 1965, growing from 2,877,300 to 5,308,039.
The composition of the population has also changed, with 632,000 non-Irish born citizens making up 12 per cent of the population. But the population overall is ageing and births are declining.
Two changes were to come within a few years of publication of the Just Society document which would increase opportunities, both social and economic. These were the introduction of free post-primary education in 1967 and the entry of Ireland into the European Economic Community (EEC), the forerunner to the European Union, in 1973. Free post-primary education increased opportunities for hitherto marginalised and excluded children, while EEC entry ushered in many changes favourable to women, including equal pay and the removal of the marriage bar.
To move towards a just society, greater selectivity in policy is necessary. Even in boom times, resources are limited and, if those on the margins are to be helped, decision-makers must prioritise the marginalised rather than the middle-class voter.
This might involve, for example, greater support for primary education in poorer areas or more selective third-level expenditure rather than subsidising expenditure on university education for all. It is interesting that students in Ireland pay €3,000 in fees a year compared with almost £10,000 (€11,500) in the UK.
Justice may not always coincide with votes.
One area not mentioned by the Just Society document concerned crime and punishment – justice itself. It is a fact that many prisoners come from deprived backgrounds, although much white-collar crime is carried out by the middle classes, even by members of the legal profession.
It has been clear, at least since the days of reports by Mr Justice Dermot Kinlen and TK Whitaker, that our prisons reflect poorly on a “just society”.
The creation of a just society must be an ongoing project, for which there is scope for voluntary as well as state effort. It is possible, for example, to volunteer for prison visitation or to visit long-term ill patients who have no families.
I am fortunate to know a priest/auxiliary bishop who has been both a prison and hospital chaplain and who has brought comfort and kindness to prisoner and patient.
Dr Finola Kennedy was the first woman to receive a PhD in economics at UCD. She is author of Cottage to Creche: Family Change in Ireland (2001), Frank Duff: A Life Story (2011) and Local Matters: Parish, Local Government and Community in Ireland (2022)
