The Green Party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, yesterday welcomed the nomination of Mr McCreevy but called on the Taoiseach to change many of the policies implemented during the Minister's seven-year tenure in the Department of Finance.
Mr Sargent wished Mr McCreevy well, echoing good wishes expressed on Tuesday by Fine Gael and Labour.
He said there was now an opportunity for the Government "to act on the recommendations of organisations like CORI, who have been scathing in their criticism of the Government's failure over the last decade to close the poverty gap... Despite a National Anti-Poverty strategy the figures show that relative poverty has increased."
He also said the Government should move to reduce Ireland's dependency on fossil fuels. "Ireland is the seventh most oil-dependent economy in the world, and the third most dependent in the EU.
"It is time the Government woke up and took a longer-term view for Irish business by shifting to a renewable energy strategy," he said.