Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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153. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to reduce the universal social charge or to reform it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1580/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The position is that the Universal Social Charge (USC) was introduced from 1 January 2011 to replace the Income Levy and the Health Levy. It was a necessary measure to widen the tax base, remove poverty traps and raise revenue to reduce the budget deficit. The Programme for Government contains a commitment not to change current income tax credits, rates and bands, nor to increase the marginal rate of tax. This commitment has been adhered to in Budgets 2012, 2013 and 2014.

May I remind the Deputy that although we have made considerable progress to date there remains a very large gap between what we spend and what we raise in revenue. We are committed towards reducing this deficit to below 3% of GDP by 2015 as we continue to repair the public finances. It is in this context that any decisions regarding reducing or reforming the USC will be made when determining the composition of Budget 2015 later this year.