Opposition parties have criticised Government tax policy after new figures showed an increase in the number of wealthy people paying little or no tax.
The Revenue Commissioners looked at the top 400 earners in the country in 2002 to find out their effective rate of tax.
The results show that the number paying little or no tax had gone up: six paid no tax at all, an increase of one on the previous year, while 150 paid less than 30% in tax, compared to 115 in 2001.
The main tax reliefs claimed by these individuals were property-based.
The Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, said the data underlined the reasons for his decision in the last budget to restrict tax relief for high earners, and he announced he has today signed orders to phase out a range of property-based tax schemes.
In response, Fine Gael's Richard Bruton said the figures were four years out of date, and that the minister had acted far too late to deal with these special tax reliefs.
Labour's Joan Burton said the figures showed that tax avoidance by Ireland's top 400 earners expanded significantly in the year in question, and said that for many of them, paying tax was an option rather than an obligation.
