The Government has been accused of an abuse of power after it moved to take control of the €175 million dormant accounts fund away from the independent board set up to disperse the money.
Labour and Fine Gael said the decision to give the final say over allocations to the Government instead of the Dormant Accounts Disbursements Board would leave Ministers with a slush fund for projects they favour.
Labour's community and rural affairs spokesman, Mr Brian O'Shea, said the Government regarded the fund as a crock of gold "that it clearly wants to exploit for partisan political purposes".
"This is not the Government's money. The money in the fund represents the proceeds of long-dormant bank accounts: in many cases the account holders are long dead. In that respect it is the community's money and it is entirely appropriate that final decisions on any allocations from the fund should be made by an independent board."
Fine Gael's finance spokesman, Mr Richard Bruton, said the decision was out of kilter with the concept of the board. "When the State expropriates these funds it should do so as a solemn trust and it is unthinkable that they should be used a slush fund for any political party."
Their charges have been rejected by the Minister of State for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Noel Ahern, who said that the procedures for allocating the money would be set out in legislation.
The Government wanted to make use of the existing Civil Service structures to allocate the money. The board would retain an advisory function, he said.