In November, Californians will vote on a proposal that Californian residents with wealth in excess of $1 billion will be liable for a one-off 5% tax on their assets. The money raised from the tax would fund healthcare in the state.
The Irish Times has reported this morning that Irish billionaire Patrick Collison has donated $7 million to a campaign opposing the proposal to tax billionaires in California.
People Before Profit’s Paul Murphy has repeated his calls for the Collison’s to disclose how much funding they provide to Progress Ireland, a think tank that promotes deregulation, such as the recent change to allow landlords to charge rent for cabins in back gardens.
People Before Profit will reiterate its call for Budget 2027 to include a tax on multimillionaires in Ireland.
Deputy Murphy said:
“This morning’s report that Patrick Collison has donated $7 million to a campaign to oppose a proposal for a wealth tax in California again raises my unanswered questions about the influence of the billionaire Collison brothers on Irish politics.
“In October, Tánaiste Simon Harris commented approvingly on Collison brothers' ideas and said their proposals ‘will be a big part of my work and focus with colleagues in the months ahead’. There’s clear evidence since then that the Tánaiste and the government have indeed been heavily influenced by the Collison brothers.
“The recent change in the law to allow landlords to rent out beds in sheds by getting rid of planning permission for cabins in back gardens was initiated by Collison brothers funded Progress Ireland, and Seán Keyes, the head of Progress Ireland, has claimed credit for the change in the law.
“Progress Ireland was also instrumental in the government’s new Critical Infrastructure Act that guts democratic input into the planning system, so infrastructure, that tech billionaires regard as critical, can bypass democratic checks and balances.
“Calls for wealth taxes on the super-rich are growing across the world and People Before Profit will renew our call for a tax on multi-millionaires in Budget 2027. I’ve no doubt the Collisons will oppose any such proposal, just as they are doing in California. They are entitled to hold that view, but the public is entitled to know how much money they are putting into their efforts to promote their views and where that money is going.
“I have repeatedly asked both Progress Ireland and the Collisons how much funding the Collisons give to Progress Ireland but I have yet to receive the answer. We know how much Patrick Collison is putting into the campaign against a billionaire's tax in California. Now we need to know how much funding the Collisons are giving to Progress Ireland.”