I too want to extend my sympathies to the Crowley family and the Fianna Fáil family on the loss of Brian.

I rise today to speak about the universal social charge, USC. When the USC was introduced, we were told it was a temporary measure, a crisis tax for a crisis moment. Yet, here we are, a decade and a half later, with a Government still clinging to it as though it were some sacred pillar of fiscal stability. Fine Gael promised to abolish the USC. Its members stood before voters in 2016 with that pledge but today we see a complete U-turn. There is not even an apology, just silence and spin. Meanwhile, the people bearing the brunt are not the wealthy, the multinationals or the political class but the working poor - the carers, shop owners, taxi drivers and parents juggling two jobs. The USC hits hardest those who can least afford it, shaving off the few euro they desperately need for food, energy, school costs and rent.

We are told that we cannot abolish the USC because the State needs the money, while corporation tax receipts have skyrocketed from roughly €4 billion in 2012 to almost €40 billion by 2025, a tenfold increase.

The money is there. What is lacking is political will and political honesty. If cuts are required to make up the difference, then let us have the courage to start at the top. Let us begin by cutting the pensions of the very Ministers and TDs who promised to abolish the USC and then abandoned that promise once safely in office. Actions should have consequences, especially when those actions burden ordinary working people.

While we are trimming excess, let us look at the bloated NGO sector, where millions are spent annually on organisations with overlapping roles, minimal transparency and limited accountability. If we must tighten belts, let us start with the sectors that have grown fat on public money, not with the pockets of those already stretching to breaking point.