Sharon Keogan: Abolish the USC, Stop Subsidy Band-Aids
Sharon Keogan repeats her call in the Chamber for the abolition of the Universal Social Charge amid recent protests and a worsening cost-of-living and energy crisis. She argues the government should prioritise tax relief over expanding subsidies, saying money is better left in working people's pockets.
Main demand: Abolish the USC
Sharon Keogan renews her plea to remove the Universal Social Charge, framing it as immediate relief for households facing rising energy bills, grocery costs and childcare expenses. She insists that every euro taken in USC is money that cannot be spent on essentials by families.
Critique of subsidy-led policy
Keogan criticises the government approach of increasing expenditure and subsidies in response to crises, warning that subsidies alone mask deeper structural problems in public spending. She contends the state is inefficient and that funneling funds through a bloated system returns only a fraction to the people who need it.
Appeal to Fianna Fáil backbenchers
The speaker directly challenges Fianna Fáil backbenchers who were promised influence at budget time, urging them to use that influence to push for tax reductions rather than inventing new subsidies. Keogan frames tax abolition as a clearer, faster way to ease household pressure.
Consequences and choices
Keogan warns the government will 'run out of road' if it substitutes subsidies for real reform and emphasises the principle that freeing income is often more effective than expanding state spending. The address sets out a policy choice for upcoming budget debates: structural reform and tax relief versus continuing subsidy cycles.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Back in January, I stood in this Chamber and called for the abolition of the Universal Social Charge. Today, in light of the recent protests, the ongoing energy crisis, the relentless cost-of-living crisis, I find myself compelled to make that call again. But I want to go further. In recent weeks, we have heard much talk from government about increased expenditure, more subsidies and so on, justified by the ever-growing projections of a budget surplus. Yet there is another model that deserves serious consideration, reducing and abolishing the burdensome taxes rather than endlessly expanding spending, most especially the USC. The truth is, it is far more efficient to leave money in working people's pockets than to take it from them, funnel it through an inefficient state apparatus and return a fraction of it through complex schemes and supports. At present, the state is demonstrably inefficient, perhaps the most inefficient in Western Europe. Anyone who looks at the delays, the overruns and the ballooning costs knows this to be true. This government will run out of road if it continues to substitute subsidies for real reform. We cannot subsidise our way out of every crisis while ignoring the structural problems at the heart of public spending. Fianna Fáil backbenders have been told they'd have influence at budget times. If that influence is real, then I call on them to use it to reduce taxes, not to invent more subsidies and new subsidies that merely mask the problem. We can halve prices at the pump to tax abolition tomorrow. And likewise, every euro taken in USC is a euro that cannot be used by a household to make an energy bill, fill a trolley or cover childcare. Until inefficiency within the state is tackled head on, we should be reducing the burden on ordinary people, not increasing it under the guise of compassion. Abolishing the USC will be a clear signal that this House understands that the best way to help people through a cost-of-living crisis is not always more government, but more freedom to keep the money that they
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
