FF vow USC and capital gains cuts - but no return to auction politics

Fianna Fáil has promised to cut the universal social charge (USC) for all but the highest earners in Irish society if it returns to power after the next election, despite insisting it has “learned the lessons” of the dangers of auction politics.

The party’s finance spokesman, Michael McGrath, outlined the plan yesterday as part of a series of high-profile tax and “rainy-day” fund measures the opposition party will implement if elected to government.

Speaking at a media briefing in Dublin, the front-bench TD said Fianna Fáil’s election manifesto will include plans to end USC for anyone earning less than €80,000 a year and to drastically cut the fee for those earning more than that sum over the next five years.