New official figures show that over 40 people who earned over €500,000 in 2001 paid no tax.
The details came from an answer from the Finance Minister to a parliamentary question from Labour spokesperson for Finance, Joan Burton.
Of these 41, eleven had declared incomes of over €1m for tax purposes and yet had a zero liability to tax.
'An analysis of these figures show that 242 people with earnings from €100,000 to €1m had a zero percentage rate of tax for the 2001 tax year, while a further 149 paid an effective rate of tax of 20% or less,' commented Joan Burton.
'This means that some 391 of the highest income earners in the country either paid a zero rate of tax or a rate of less than 20%,' she said.
'The figures are a truly astonishing indictment of the range of tax loopholes and avoidance measures which had been built up during the McCreevy years and which allow many of the most wealthy in Irish society to avoid tax,' she added.
She said that the figures released this week cover 2001 only. She said that when the figures for 2002 and 2003 are eventually published, they will show an 'even more extreme and disturbing situation'.
The Department of Finance said the Revenue was carrying out an analysis of the top 400 income earners, and that when that was completed it would be in a better position to say why some top earners paid little or no income tax in 2001.
The Department said there could be several reasons why some people had no tax liability, including tax relief for pension contributions or tax breaks, which were introduced to stimulate investment.
