The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, was subjected to a barrage of criticism yesterday after he suggested in an interview that inequality was an "incentive" in the Irish economy.
The Opposition accused Mr McDowell of deliberately courting controversy by saying that a dynamic liberal economy "like ours" demanded "flexibility and inequality in some respects" to function. He went on to dismiss "the current rights culture" as something that would create a feudal society if driven to an extreme.
Such remarks were greeted with disdain by Namhi, an organisation promoting the rights of the intellectually disabled, which said Mr McDowell was promoting a "survival of the fittest" society. "The Minister is essentially saying that the economy is more important than the people," the organisation said.
The vice president of the St Vincent de Paul Society, Mr John Monaghan, said he was astounded by the remarks and concerned that they gave an impression that inequality was acceptable.
However, the Minister of State for Justice, Mr Willie O'Dea, backed the assertions by Mr McDowell. "If there's inequality of wealth in a society it gives people who aspire to better themselves the incentive to gain more wealth," he said on RTÉ radio.
Fine Gael's social affairs spokesman, Mr Fergus O'Dowd, said Mr McDowell had demonstrated a "warped" sense of logic. "The very idea that the Justice Minister expresses a level of admiration for inequality in society is utterly disgraceful and reflects his dog-eat-dog vision for Ireland," he said.
Labour's European candidate in Dublin, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, said Ireland had been shown to be one of the most unequal countries in Europe. "During their seven years in office, Fianna Fáil and the PDs have consistently transferred wealth upwards, and have worsened inequality." Mr McDowell had simply articulated the "arrogant" thinking behind the Coalition's policies, he said.
The leader of the Greens, Mr Trevor Sargent, said Mr McDowell was accentuating differences and divisions in society.