Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Many of the issues have been covered. I welcome Dr. McDonnell to the committee and thank him for sharing his views and thoughts on these matters, and particularly for the excellent documents the Nevin Economic Research Institute has been producing, which are easy to comprehend and add to the understanding of complex matters by parliamentarians and the public.

Dr. McDonnell made clear his organisation's views on the USC. I may have heard him on a vox pop on RTE when I was driving home listening to people's views of what should replace the USC. To a person, every organisation answered that it should not be replaced but should be kept. Bearing in mind that view, which extended from ICTU to IBEC and everyone in between - around 12 organisations were asked in total - is Dr. McDonnell aware of any organisation that believes it is good policy and a fundamentally sound principle to abolish the USC? If so, we could invite its representatives before the committee to make an economic rather than an emotional argument.