BUDGET 2016: Workers may be €1k a year better off

Sweeping changes to the Universal Social Charge will see workers make savings from a few hundred euro to almost €1,000 over a year.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan announced the tax cuts and pledged the coalition would abolish the USC over the lifetime of the next government if returned to power.

With a general election looming though, the measures were deemed as an attempt to buy votes.