Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The USC was introduced by the late Brian Lenihan as an emergency and temporary measure. I believe Fianna Fáil is also proposing abolishing it to some degree but I am waiting to see the full proposal.

We need to very careful going into this election and I mean this sincerely. Regarding tax versus spend and the idea that it is a choice between taxing or spending, that is not the case if it is done right. There is a way we can use tax to achieve economic growth that gives us more money to invest in public services. A simple example was the VAT reduction at 9% in the tourism sector. We saw more jobs created and more revenue coming to the Exchequer which can be used in our hospitals or to provide social housing. I do not think we should have that either-or debate. I look forward to debating this over the coming weeks.

On the report at hand, I fully agree with Senator O'Keeffe when she talks about parliamentary accountability. This is something all of us should defend to the death. It cannot be outsourced. Senator Barrett referenced the retired High Court President, Mr. Justice Nicholas Kearns's comments. There is a difference between the job a judge has to do in a court and the job we have to do here. We should not apologise for doing our job or suggest we are inadequate in doing it. If we believe we are inadequate in terms of doing the job, we should not run for election to these Houses.