Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Does the Minister accept that the universal social charge was introduced effectively as a bank bailout tax? Always in answer to this question, it is stated that the USC combined two taxes, but in reality it was a massive increase in those taxes, generating a lot more revenue for the State. It was intended to be a temporary measure. It was an emergency measure in response to the crisis, to effectively give money to enable the bailout of the banks. It was intended to be done away with but we are stuck with it. Before the last general election the then Fine Gael leader, Deputy Leo Varadkar, made an election promise to scrap the USC. The Government was formed and it did not scrap the USC. It betrayed that promise. However, at a time when we have a projected surplus of €65 billion in coming years, is it not time to give ordinary workers a break and lift this burden from them?

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