With Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe set to deliver what is being called a giveaway election budget this afternoon reaction is already emerging from the opposition.
Key areas such as housing and health have already come under scrutiny.
Labour Housing spokesperson, Jan O'Sullivan, has said that housing proposals as part of today's Budget will do nothing to ease the housing crisis when it comes to rent.
"Not one measure printed in any of today’s papers will do anything to help those who are stuck in the eye of the rental storm," said Deputy O'Sullivan.
"Fianna Fáil's so-called affordable housing scheme is a direct subsidy to developers. It's a classic from the Fianna Fáil playbook providing a top up for big builders but doing little to deliver a real affordable scheme.
Despite insistences from Fianna Fáil that this would be a “housing budget”, it is anything but. €300 million for a so-called affordable housing scheme is absolutely miserable in the context of what is actually needed.
“The proposed tax cut for landlords won't deliver one extra rental property but it will line the pockets of those who've been benefitting from the record increases in rent."
Ms O'Sullivan said that the budget marks a "return to the days when budgets were great for developers".
Independent TD Dr Michael Harty has raised concerns about the capacity for doctors to handle another 100,000 people having free GP cards.
"It is very good for those patients who are going to qualify and Slaintecare does address the issue of expanding entitlement to eventually reach universal healthcare for primary care and there is no issue in relation to that.
"The huge issue is in relation to general practice to absorb that extra eligibility.
"We have GPs who are emigrating, we have no GPs coming into the service and we have about 700 GPs out of a total of 2,500 who are going to retire in the next five years so there are huge manpower issues within general practice," said Dr Harty.
"While expanding eligibility is good for the people, general practice doesn't have the capacity to do that and those people are inevitably going to end up in casualty departments."
Dr Harty says the GP contract needs to be addressed before they can deal with extra patients.
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