The Opposition has accused the Government of creating a election slush fund out of money from the dormant accounts fund.
The dormant accounts fund was set up three years ago from accounts in financial institutions that have not been used, or insurance policies that have not been reclaimed, for at least 15 years. It currently stands at almost €205 million.
It was initially controlled by a specially created Disbursements Board but after the passing of an amendment act in 2004, this control passed back to the cabinet.
Fine Gael's deputy spokesperson on community affairs, Damien English, said although the allocation of €24 million for social disadvantage was welcome, the lack of transparency around the allocation of the fund, as a result of Government interference, was deeply worrying.
Speaking on RTÉ radio this morning Mr English said: "The whole process lacks transparency and is open to be used by ministers to fund basically certain areas where they think they are doing bad in an election.
"We can't get any details of who can qualify for it, where they can qualify for it and we'll see in a year's time when the cheques are being presented exactly how it is being used".
Green Party TD, Dan Boyle, also said that the fund had become "nakedly political allocations made by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, after his decision not to replace the previous independent allocation board".
However, speaking on the same programme, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó'Cuív, said the accusations were "absolute nonsense" and claimed the situation was "very clearly open and transparent".