The immediate hostile reaction (mostly on women's tax) to Charlie McCreevy's Budget took the Government and its deputies greatly by surprise on Wednesday night. Plaudits all round had been expected. Instead they encountered criticism, indifference and little praise. There was a feeling that a great innovative Budget was unrecognised and that commentators and the public were ignoring the tax benefits for workers and were honing in solely on areas that affected them personally. Failure to understand the intricacies of the movements on rates, bands and individualisation, were blamed and there was a belief that once all was explained the praise would come. In April they'll all notice anyway. The Budget by its nature is a secret till the last minute - Cabinet members didn't hear the full details until they met for a special briefing breakfast that morning, so the spindoctors couldn't get at it to media-proof it and make it consumer friendly before delivery. Consequently, when McCreevy got to his feet only the experts properly understood what he was talking about.