Voters want USC to be scrapped by next election

Seven out of 10 voters unhappy with the Universal Social Charge but all major parties want to keep the tax

Support for Sinn Féin has risen marginally, according to the poll.

Voters want the Government to scrap the Universal Social Charge (USC) before the next general election.

A Red C poll for the  Business Post shows seven out of 10 voters want the tax gone.

However, all major parties want to keep the tax, despite a seismic shift in attitude from their own supporters in response to the cost-of-living crisis.

Elsewhere, another poll out on Sunday shows that support for Sinn Féin is marginally up again.

Mary Lou McDonald's party has risen another point to 32% in the latest Ireland Thinks/Sunday Independent poll.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil both remain unchanged at 20% and 19% respectively and the Green Party also stayed the same at 3%. 

The Social Democrats have seen a one-point increase to 6% and the Independents are up from 12% to 13%.

Solidarity/People Before Profit is down two points to 2% and Aontú is up one point to 3% from last month's poll.

The Labour Party is down from 4% to 3%.

According to the poll, the country has no appetite for a snap election and there has been little reaction to Fine Gael's calls for a tax cut for middle-income Ireland.

Last month, three junior Fine Gael ministers called for tax cuts, but it appears to have made little difference to would-be voters, with those polled saying it would not change the way they vote or their support for Leo Varadkar or Fine Gael.

However, it did spark a bitter row within the coalition, with claims of 'kite-flying' ahead of the next general election.

Potential voters believe housing should be the number one priority for the Government this year.

According to the poll, 59% of people questioned put housing and homelessness at the top of their agenda.

The cost of living is next at 40% and healthcare third, on 25%.

The Ireland Thinks/Sunday Independent poll was carried out with a sample size of 1,136 people and a margin of error of plus or minus 3%.