Universal Social Charge
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-25
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

I have to give the annoying answer that we will consider all of these matters in the budget. I do not want to rule anything in or out today, other than to say a couple of things. The Deputy is right to acknowledge the burden that people feel from taxation. She is also right to acknowledge, very fairly, the benefit that we see from the taxes that people pay. The USC is expected to bring in €5.9 billion this year. It would be a very different challenge if we did not have that almost €6 billion. The next staging post as regards the total amount available for tax measures will be the summer economic statement in July. That will outline how much we intend to put aside for tax measures. We can then start to have an informed debate about the best way to spend that money and the best policy options. In general, regarding the surplus, I am pleased to live in a country where we have an economic surplus. It comes with challenges, but it much better to have a challenge than a deficit. I am conscious that some of that surplus is based on a temporary windfall tax and, therefore, a more appropriate use of it is to put it into our investment funds to deliver infrastructure and deal with future demographics.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-25