The universal social charge, USC, remains one of the most resented charges on a worker's payslip. It cannot be reduced by tax credit. It hits the middle income and lower earners at the first euro. As the Minister is aware, it was introduced in 2011 as a temporary crisis measure. Fifteen years on, it is still here. It is still squeezing the workers it was meant to support during that downturn. Previous Ministers have claimed that USC must be in place because we need the revenue. Is the Minister aware that of the €145 billion in tax revenue generated in 2025, only €5.6 billion was the USC? That is less than 4% of the State revenue. That is a charge that successive Governments promised that it was never meant to be permanent. Will the Government commit today to bringing forward, as part of budget 2027, a costed roadmap that plans to abolish the USC at the lowest level at least to start with?

Sentiment score: -0.03