Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move recommendation No. 1:

In page 11, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:

“3. The Minister shall, within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on options available for removing the USC liability for all workers earning less than €19,572 a year.”.

The Minister of State mentioned that the Minister's commitment is to abolish USC over time. We can only make recommendations here. The purpose of this recommendation is to reduce taxation on low income earners who earn less than €19,752 a year. We came to that figure by way of our own proposal to raise the minimum wage by €1.50. At that level, we believe it would be at the threshold of a normal week's work for a worker. We feel that the €13,000 figure that the Minister has selected falls too short. Those on minimum wage in the State are hit hardest with regard to the challenges of rent, education costs and the different expenditures that people have in terms of day to day living. We believe there is a necessity to move towards a living wage and we seek to ensure that there is space available for people to be able to live on that wage. Taking anyone earning less than €19,572 a year out of USC would allow for that.