The main Opposition parties have attacked Budget 2007 by accusing Minister for Finance Brian Cowen of failing to tackle the "real issues facing Irish society".
They also maintained that the tax relief for first-time buyers would be nullified by the interest rate increase announced by the European Central Bank today.
The ECB raised the rate at which it lends to banks by a quarter point to a five-year high of 3.5 per cent.
Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said: "The Minister has changed the basis of his calculations to disguise the fact that 31 per cent of taxpayers will be paying at the higher 41 per cent rate next year. That means that 235,000 people have been let down by a Government that has failed to honour a clear commitment."
Mr Bruton said that one-income families had been betrayed by the Government as, for the sixth year in a row, there was nothing in the tax code for the spouse working in the home.
"People caring for their children in the home are being airbrushed out of the tax code."
Labour's finance spokeswoman, Joan Burton, said that serious injustices had been inflicted on those who were being forced to pay the higher tax rate, plus PRSI on very modest overtime payments or on bonuses or wage increases.
"This is a typical Fianna Fáil/PD Budget, a Budget for the wealthy few, not the hardworking many.
"We have headline reductions in taxation which will be welcomed by hard-pressed families, but the secret of the tax code in Ireland remains the fact that tax is often for the little people," she said.
Her party leader, Pat Rabbitte said "This Budget is not addressing the real issues facing Irish society. Pre-election giveaways will not make it easier for people to get home from work this evening."
Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said that for all the revenue at his disposal, Mr Cowen had shown no real awareness of the challenges facing Ireland from climate change and peak global oil production.
Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin welcomed measures for those on low incomes but said Mr Cowen "could have done much much more if he had chosen to.
"The biggest problem with today's Budget is that once again this Government has shown that they have absolutely no strategy to address the core needs of ordinary people whether it is in health, education or housing," he said.