"Whoopee," said Ms Siobhan Staunton, a secretary in an accounting firm in Cork. "For once, we're getting something back, although it will be some time yet before I figure out what it will all come to.
"One thing is for sure - I won't be taking summer holidays on the proceeds, but at least the average punter is not being ground down once more.
"I'm sick and tired of the Celtic Tiger because people like me don't meet that tiger too often. At the same time, getting something is better than getting nothing. It could be the start of a more equal tax structure."
For supermarket security man Mr Paddy O'Brien, the Budget would mean "a few extra bob. At this stage, after years of watching the fat cats get fatter, anything is welcome.
"The ordinary wage earner has has to put up with a lot of taxation at source - double taxation everywhere else - and then taxation one more time to provide money for all those tribunals into the sins of big business and the politicians.
"They've an awful cheek, really - but who are we to refuse crumbs from the table?"
Ms Monica Cantwell, separated and the mother of three girls, said the Budget had at least aimed in the right direction and had attempted to give people in her position a slightly better standard of living. But there was no room for applause.
"Any day of the week you travel to Dublin in the train - there they are in good suits, dining in the dining carriage on the way to the Dail - their own private club for themselves.
"Yet we elect them and when the gravy train pulls out, people like me are still left behind trying to cope.
"There isn't much for us to look forward to and the effect of the new Budget is pretty hard to figure out."
Mr Michael Geary, speaking for the Cork Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the Budget and said that it appeared to have something for everybody. The clear statement on the reduction of corporation tax and the plan to reduce it further over a four-year period were good news for industry.
The lowering of income tax rates and the increased personal allowances were also good news, he added.
"Anything that helps to bring down corporate taxation while at the same time giving people more money in their pockets cannot be dismissed."
The manager of Jurys Hotel in Cork, Mr Joe Quinn, said his sector was delighted at the news that the tax bands were being reduced. He also welcomed the reduction in corporation tax. People should now have more money to spend and the burden on industry would be lessened.
"I think it has been an upbeat Budget - it's not bad for industry and it's not bad for the country."
A spokesman for Murphys Brewery in Cork said last night that, in general terms, the Budget was to be welcomed. It had taken a reasonable approach to personal taxation and had also given industry new incentives.