The latest NERI Research inBrief, entitled Income Distribution, Pre-distribution and Re-distribution: latest data for the Republic of Ireland, provides the latest information on income distribution in the Republic of Ireland.
Pre-distribution, the direct income distribution reflects a large proportion of Irish society with little, if any, market income. The combined direct income share of the bottom 50% is just over 8% of all Ireland's direct income. The bottom eight deciles receive a total of 40% of the total pre-distribution income, marginally more than than received by the top decile.
The redistributive system, through both welfare and taxation, decreases the scale of these initial income divides; this of course is its purpose. Comparing pre and post redistribution, the relative share of each of the bottom seven deciles increases. However, the pronounced difference between the 9th and top decile remains. In 2011, post-redistribution the share of the bottom 50% (25.05%) was the same as the share of the top 10% (24.85%).
The paper also estimates the income inequality effect of the redistribution system. It finds that the combined impact of the tax and social welfare system on income distribution in Ireland is to reduce the Gini coefficient measure of income inequality by just over 55 percentage points.
The full paper is available here