The universal social charge, USC, remains one of the most resented charges on a worker's payslip. It cannot be reduced by tax credit. It hits the middle income and lower earners at the first euro. As the Minister is aware, it was introduced in 2011 as a temporary crisis measure. Fifteen years on, it is still here. It is still squeezing the workers it was meant to support during that downturn. Previous Ministers have claimed that USC must be in place because we need the revenue. Is the Minister aware that of the €145 billion in tax revenue generated in 2025, only €5.6 billion was the USC? That is less than 4% of the State revenue. That is a charge that successive Governments promised that it was never meant to be permanent. Will the Government commit today to bringing forward, as part of budget 2027, a costed roadmap that plans to abolish the USC at the lowest level at least to start with?

The tax strategy group examines the different options that are available to the Government during the summer. That informs the respective tax package that will advance. We have to honest about the measures we take in terms of taxation. They have to be sustainable and affordable in the long term. USC brings in about €5.5 billion per year. To make permanent reductions in it, that would potentially have to be found elsewhere. The calibration of the wider tax package is a matter for the Minister for Finance with the tax package that will be available. We will set that out in the summer economic statement. We have been clear that we want to have an income tax package for workers. The mix of that is a matter for the Government to decide in advance of budget 2027. The Deputy and I have read the Commission on Taxation report, as has everybody.

We need to ensure we have a sustainable tax base to pay for public services and for the long-term demographic risks we have in our economy. We have to balance all of those risks in how we decide budget 2027.