Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

An opinion poll over the past week or so showed that a majority of people wanted the hated universal social charge, USC, to be abolished, something that was promised by Fine Gael in 2016. When it was imposed during the economic crisis, it was supposed to be a temporary emergency austerity tax. It was cruelly and unfairly imposed on working people, costing them thousands of euro every year. Despite the emergency being over and record budget surpluses, however, workers are still being hit with the USC. Will the Minister listen to public opinion and abolish this hated charge, at least for those earning under €100,000, in order to give working people a break?

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