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USC is difficult to defend when massive surpluses exist and voters want money back

Only way for Harris to turn the dial with voters is to go big on eliminating the much-hated universal social charge

Taoiseach Simon Harris, then a junior minister, poses alongside then finance minister Michael Noonan and agriculture minister Simon Coveney in 2016 as Fine Gael promised to abolish the USC. Picture: Rollingnews.ie

Fine Gael says it wants to reduce the amount of Universal Social Charge (USC) that comes out of your pay packet, on top of the income tax (PAYE) and social insurance (PRSI) you also pay.

We have been here before. It was a centrepiece of Fine Gael’s failed 2016 general election campaign and yet eight years later we’re listening to the same ambitions, something it has failed to deliver in all of its years in ...