Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy needs to go back and study. I specifically spoke about people who, in the context of nursing incomes, could be working part-time and earning up to €13,000. That group would be lifted out of the universal social charge net entirely. The USC has also been reduced significantly for people on the lower rates. However, the real gain is for people with a medium level of take-home pay as the rate of USC they pay has fallen from 7% to 5.5%. If Deputy Ó Caoláin does not believe that it is a significant gain in take-home pay and to the money in people's pockets and purses, I must question the economics of the Sinn Féin budget proposals.

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