Sinn Fein pledges to start tackling USC within first 100 days in government

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald has pledged to start tackling USC rates in her party’s first 100 days in government if it wins the election.

The party is running 71 candidates across all constituencies in Ireland in the poll later this month in a bid to oust both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail from government for the first time in decades.

At a candidate launch at the Communication Workers’ Union in Dublin on Monday morning, Ms McDonald pledged to abolish the universal social charge (USC) for the first 45,000 euro of people’s incomes.

“Our message to the people is clear – if you want to change the government, your only option is to vote for Sinn Fein,” she said.

She pledged to focus on delivering a better future from day one in government, to make housing affordable, transform the health service, deliver affordable childcare at 10 euro per child per day, abolish the means test for carers’ allowance and to advance preparations for the reunification of Ireland.

“We will scrap the USC on the first 45,000 euro of every worker’s income, every worker will benefit and we know workers can’t wait,” she said.

“We will begin implementing this relief within the first 100 days of government, ensuring the removal of the first 45,000 euro from the USC by January 1 2026.

“This means a Sinn Fein-led government will ensure that the average worker will never again pay USC. This will benefit all workers and will mean up to 1,100 euros more a year in take-home pay from where they are today.”

Ms McDonald said the policy will remove a “huge burden” from low and middle-income families, and “highlights the clear blue water between Sinn Fein and the Fine Gael/Fianna Fail partnership”.

“Their approach has always been to ensure that those at the top benefit first and benefit most,” she said.

“Our USC proposal puts fairness for ordinary workers first.”

Pearse Doherty said the party will bring a mini budget within the first 100 days with the cut to USC.

“We know the pressure that workers are under during the cost-of-living crisis, that’s why within the first 100 days of a Sinn Fein-led government that we are going to act,” he said.

“We will introduce a mini budget which at the centre of it will be these cuts to the USC. We will see ordinary workers across the state pay less USC within 100 days of a Sinn Fein government and the abolition of USC for the first 45,000 euro that every earner earns by January 1 2026. That is our commitment.”

Ms McDonald also pledged to maintain Ireland’s relationship with the US under President-elect Donald Trump.

“Whoever is taoiseach, the relationship with the United States is a very important one for us,” she said.

“Obviously for Sinn Fein in particular, we have invested hugely in the development of the Irish peace process. You’ll have seen yesterday Michelle O’Neill act again in good faith as a First Minister for all.

“The peace process is ongoing, it needs to be tended to consistently, not just domestically but internationally, and the United States of America, irrespective of who is in the White House, is a very, very important part of all of that.

“So engagement and that relationship is extremely important, so yes, whoever is taoiseach, I believe, should and will go to the White House on St Patrick’s Day, because the first order of business on that occasion is Ireland, peace in Ireland, the reunification of Ireland for us, and on those occasions, areas where there is disagreement, also there is an opportunity to raise those issues

“When we were there last St Patrick’s Day, in all of the engagements that Michelle and I had, the issue of Palestine in particular was raised.

“There is great clarity across the Atlantic as to the Irish position, the Sinn Fein position and our call to stop arming Israel, the need for sanctions and the need for international law to be respected. None of that is news on the far side of the Atlantic.

“The relationship is important for Ireland and it is important that there is ongoing and deep engagement.”