Opposition parties blast McCreevy

Opposition parties were quick to criticise Minister McCreevy's budget. Fine Gael finance spokesman Jim Mitchell, contrasted it with the last year's budget, and said: "The question everyone is asking is - where has all the money gone?

"The deterioration is our budget versus the national income over the last 12 months is four times greater than that of the United Kingdom. Today's sad state of our nation's finances is not a problem of international confidence, it is one of homemade incompetence."