There was a lukewarm reaction in Northern Ireland to today's UK budget announced today.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown described his10th budget as having school funding as the centre-piece with stg£26 million allocated to education in Northern Ireland.
Frances McCandless of the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action said while there was a boost for education and modest steps to fight global warming, the budget was otherwise dull and technical.
After a budget panel discussion involving a number of community and voluntary organisations in Belfast, she said: "If the economy really is doing as well as Mr Brown says he can afford to do a lot more.
"It is difficult to identify any initiatives to create a more equal society."
Mr Brown's promise of more spending on schools and further education and the pledge to improve training for women with low skills was widley welcomed but there was disappointment that there was no major push against poverty, with no rises in spending on social security or the minimum wage.
With duty on cigarettes rising by 9p, the chief executive of the Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke Association Andrew Dougal said: "The meagre rise in tobacco tax will do nothing to persuade people to give up the weed. "However we welcome the stg£1 billion for medical research."
Bob Stronge, director of Advice NI was disappointed the Chancellor did not approve above-inflation increases in social security benefits. He said: "The Chancellor had a lot to say about cutting carbon emissions but nothing about the huge rise in fuel prices which hit the poorest the most, particularly those who are sick or disabled on benefits."
PricewaterhouseCoopers chief economist Philip McDonagh said while the extra £26 million allocated to Northern Ireland was welcome, it amounted to less than 0.2 per cent of the total budget for the North.
"This was a Budget about politics and popularity, not about the UK regions," he said. "There was plenty in the speech about stimulating regional economic regeneration and prosperity but few initiatives to make it happen.
The Ulster Society of Chartered Accountants said the budget did not address the specific challenges which affect the Northern Ireland economy.
Democratic Unionist economy spokesperson George Dawson said the Budget would do little to stimulate Northern Ireland's economy.
"I firmly believe that Northern Ireland is in terms of infrastructure and skills, every bit as competitive if indeed not more so than our neighbours. Where we lose that edge is in the cost of doing business. "
A 30 per cent corporation tax in Northern Ireland cannot compete with one of only 12.5 per cent in the Irish Republic. The existence of a land border with a state that has a lower business tax regime is not allowing Northern Ireland to prosper as it should, he added.
Sinn Féin's Mitchel McLaughlin said the emerging consensus is that a move towards convergence with the rest of Ireland would be beneficial, therefore the budget would not "tackle the very serious problem of economic inactivity".