The Green Party welcomed what it saw as a "transfer of taxation from the lower paid on to fuel". But its spokesman on Enterprise and Employment, Mr Pat Fitzpatrick, said the 1997 Budget was not radical enough.
The party called for the establishment of a guaranteed basic income and for priority to be given to streamlining social welfare and taxation as a first step to introducing this basic income guarantee system.
"We welcome the changes to social welfare, but note that social welfare is still not at the minimum adequate level recommended 11 years ago," he said.
"Social welfare changes should come on stream in April in the same way that tax changes do," he added. "There is no justification for delaying increases in payments to the unemployed and other social welfare recipients until June."