Daniel McConnell: Time to tackle a nasty 'temporary' tax that never went away

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has admitted the USC cannot be abolished. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The universal social charge is a pox. A nasty penal tax levied on most incomes, even modest ones. It was supposed to be temporary but has become permanent.

When he sought to introduce the USC in late 2010, the late Brian Lenihan had portrayed it as a mere merging of existing levies.