The Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, has hailed the British Chancellor's budget as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to improve Northern Ireland's public services.
Dr Reid said the British government had made almost £2.7 billion sterling (€4.39 billion) additional funding available for the North's health service over the next five years as well as providing a number of benefits for small businesses and families.
The Ulster Unionist Treasury spokesman, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, said the budget required close examination to see whether some of its provisions were indeed as positive as they appeared. He was concerned that the Chancellor had not specified whether Northern Ireland would be given its own independent health service auditor and disappointed at the increase of duty on cigarettes, which was likely to increase cross-Border smuggling.
While welcoming the additional health funding, the SDLP's vice-chairman of the Assembly's health committee, Mr Tommy Gallagher, warned that there was a need for greater transparency as to how the money was spent. Its economy spokesman, Dr Alasdair McDonnell, said the reduction in corporation tax for small businesses would be of particular benefit.
Sinn Féin's health spokesman, Mr John Kelly, insisted the additional money had to be used to tackle the causes of illness as much as to pay for better services.
The Federation of Small Businesses was concerned at the rise in employers' National Insurance which, combined with employees' contributions, would equal an increase of 2p on income tax.
