Taoiseach vows to scrap USC by 2018

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has vowed to scrap the “savage” universal social charge (USC) “in its entirety”, recover all jobs lost during the crash “by 2018” and help “at least” 70,000 emigrants come home — if his party is re-elected.

The Fine Gael leader outlined an ambitious blueprint to “sustain the recovery”, which also includes a promises to bring unemployment down to a “practically zero rate” of 6%, at Fine Gael’s annual presidential dinner in Dublin on Saturday night.

Speaking to party colleagues before Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin described the plans as the start of the “most cynical” election campaign in history, Mr Kenny said voters have a choice between “stability and economic progress on one hand, and chaos and uncertainty on the other”.