Sinn Féin says retaining the Universal Social Charge is fundamental to funding public services in the future.

The party today launched its policies on public service spending, which includes the abolition of prescription charges, student fees and a cap on childcare costs at €150.

Sinn Féin branded Fine Gael's promise to abolish the USC, as "reckless".

Sinn Féin's Finance Spokesperson, Pearse Doherty also criticised Fianna Fáil's policies and slammed the decisions taken by one of its former finance ministers, Charlie McCreevy.

Mr Doherty said, under Sinn Féin's policies, workers earning below €19,552 will not pay any USC.

He said: "For those 277,000 people, it would mean a big difference in their daily lives, they are the lowest paid in Irish society, but it costs just above €80m to do that.

"So we're making sure that that tax take that is needed, we're not going back to what Charlie McCreevy did about eroding the tax base, because we need to invest in public services."