Reactions to health:Labour's Spokesperson on Health, Ms Liz McManus, said this evening the health measures in Mr Cowen's Budget will do nothing to alleviate chronic problems that face the health service, including hospital waiting lists, access to medical cards, and nursing shortages.
The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO), also said it was disappointed and frustrated at the failure of the Budget to address the shortage of nurses and midwives.
"The increases Minister Cowen announced in a number of social welfare payments has not been accompanied by any reciprocal change in the threshold for entitlement to a medical card," said Ms McManus.
"This will mean that many people in receipt of social welfare benefit may find the increases they receive disqualify them from a medical card. This is a clear example of giving with one hand, and taking with the other."
She criticised the Government for failing to meet its pre-election promise to introduce 200,000 extra medical cards and said today's Budget will compound the damage by denying even more people entitlement to a card.
"Also, there are no measures to alleviate the growing nursing shortages in key areas of intensive care, midwifery, and A&E services, particularly in Dublin," she said.
"Moreover, Minister Cowen made no reference to increasing the number of hospital beds nor was there anything in his speech for people on hospital waiting lists.
"By not even mentioning the issue once in the course of speech, the Government is clearly trying to deflect attention away from the crisis in the health service."
In a statement the INO said that the expansion of services, particularly in the area of intellectual disability, will not be realised because of the Government's failure to address the issue of retaining Irish trained nurses and midwives in the Irish health service.
"The end result of this policy failing will be a lack of skilled nurses and midwives, which in turn, will lead to more cancelled operations, patients continuing to lie on trolleys in A&E departments and unfulfilled commitments to expand health and specialist services generally," said General Secretary, Mr Liam Doran.
"The INO will be raising this issue, which amounts to a continued denial of the extent of this crisis, with the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney, when we meet with her next Monday," he added.