Government to come under fire in Dáil
The Government is expected to come under fire from the opposition in the Dáil later today after the measure announced in yesterday's Budget.
The Labour Party has criticised the lack of money allocated to health, saying it is now "proven beyond doubt that the Government's health strategy is a failure".
Fine Gael Finance spokesperson, Richard Bruton, has described the Budget as a "slow burner".
"People will see the price they are going to have to pay in a thousand different ways over the year.
"It is not just about excise and the VAT on heating oil and on entertainment and parent maintenance, but it is also the charges that will come from the local authorities, the local authority rent, the medication charges, the college fee charges - it's going to be one after the other."
The Conference of Religious of Ireland intends to release a detailed critique of the Budget this afternoon. Spokesman Fr Sean Healy says it is the "same old story" all over again.
"It is not the first time that this has been done by the present Government. This is their sixth Budget, and again they do not give the priority required to tackle poverty, inequality, social exclusion.
"Nor do they given priority to tackling the deficits in infrastructure in areas like public transport and housing that are urgently required."
