In March, Brian Lenihan stated in the Dáil that the full cost of bailing out Anglo Irish Bank would be €22bn from the state. All indications now suggest much more will be required.

Last June, Lenihan revealed that €58bn in long-term bank debt and €16.4bn in short-term debt was due to be repaid before next October. The national debt is increasing rapidly and the cost of government borrowing is increasing as a result.

An article in the New York Times on 21 May, co-authored by Simon Johnson, the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, claimed that renewal of the blanket guarantee of bank borrowings and a continuation of current government policies could lead to a catastrophe.

The main taxation proposal being mooted for the next budget is an extension of tax to the lower paid and draconian reductions in the provision of health, education and other services. Johnson says it will not work and will probably lead to a downward spiral of the economy and an even greater crisis.

Much of the €90bn irresponsibly borrowed abroad by Irish banks since 2003 is still in possession of the super-rich. The repayments on these borrowings are now being made by the citizens. Surely this money must be restored as a priority.

The only way to recover this money is through an assets tax. If the €320bn in assets held by the top 5% in 2007 has now shrunk to €250bn (estimate of Unite the Union), a 10% emergency assets tax for one year on assets would bring in €25bn and a 2% annual assets tax on the top 5% of asset holders would bring in €5bn a year. Raising the tax on the top 6% who earn over €100,000 from 27% to 32% would raise a further €1.5bn per year.

A significant increase in income and assets taxes on the rich is no longer merely desirable; it is a necessity. There is a real economic emergency. Surely the super-rich should make an emergency contribution.

Paddy Healy,

88 Griffith Court,

Fairview, Dublin 3