The Conference of Religious in Ireland (Cori) has criticised Budget 2008 for what it claims is the Government's failure to tackle poverty and social exclusion.
While welcoming elements of the Budget, including Minister for Finance Brian Cowen's pledge to provide 9,000 extra social housing units in 2008, Cori argues his Budget has failed to maintain the momentum of previous years.
Cori claims the problem of poverty has not been addressed, with the working poor remaining a major issue.
Cori spokesman Fr Sean Healy said up to a third of households at risk of poverty are headed by a person with a job. He said a single person or couple with an income of €15,000 a year "gained nothing" from the Budget.
"The momentum in reducing poverty has been lost for the coming year because of the failure to address the working poor issue, the failure to increase the qualifying adult social welfare rate to make it equal to 100 per cent of the claimant's rate, except in the case of the contributory old age pension where some progress has been made, and the failure to do substantially more to tackle child poverty," he said.
Cori also attacked the Government for failing to improve adult literacy. According to Fr Healy, the €3 million allocation for adult literacy programmes was "most disappointing".
In addition, Cori accused the Government of failing to honour its commitment in Towards 2016 to fund 300 primary care teams across the State by the end of next year.
These teams are made up of GPs, nurses/midwives, health care assistants, home helps, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers and administrative personnel. They are designed to improve health care at local level.
"The failure to allocate the necessary resources to meet this commitment is a disgrace," Fr Healy said.
However, Cori noted that increases in social welfare mean recipients of such payments "have done better than those who are wealthy".
Cori also welcomed Government pledges to produce a carbon report, and the introduction of changes in Vehicle Registration Tax and motor tax system.