Fine Gael has claimed today's Estimates will cost every household an additional €2,200 a year in extra indirect taxes.
The party's finance spokesman and deputy leader, Richard Bruton, said this was the implication of the Minister for Finance's plan.
"You will search in vain in today's estimates to see any sign of serious reform. The Government's alleged conversion to value for money rings hollow," he said.
"The promise of a new approach to spending based on informed scrutiny and evaluation has not been delivered. At the weekend Fine Gael said that, in Government, they would tax carefully, spend wisely and invest well.
"This Government looks set to tax stealthily, spend liberally and invest casually. In the Estimates today no changes have been made so that high performance would drive the allocation of money."
Labour Party finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said the Book of Estimates was "the work of a jaded and incompetent Government that is bereft of ideas".
She said there was "a new round of stealth taxes" buried in the small print, including an increase in the cost of A&E visits from €55 to €60.
"Despite all the noise created by the Government about Transport 21, the Minister is not capable of saying today how much he will be investing in transport, or in any other area of capital investment," she added.
"Once again, capital spending in 2005 falls far short of the 5 per cent of GNP target. This is just another indication of the Government's incompetence in economic management."
At least five ministers would carry over the maximum allowable 10 per cent in their capital budgets, Ms Burton said.
"Incredibly, the Tánaiste has been unable to spend at least 56.4 million on badly needed hospitals and health facilities," she said.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said the Estimates provided final proof that Minister for Justice Michael McDowell had abandoned his promise to recruit 14,000 gardai during the lifetime of the Government.
Green Party Finance spokesman Dan Boyle claimed the Book of Estimates represented a three-card trick on the electorate and accused Mr Cowen of remaining reticent on key areas of capital expenditure.
He said that until the budgetary process was reformed the publication of the Book of Estimates would remain an empty exercise.
Sinn Fein leader in the Dail Caoimhghin O'Caolain said that there was a responsibility on the Government to introduce a comprehensive childcare package in the Budget.
"If overdue measures on childcare and other social services are going to be introduced now, they are due, at least in part, to the imminence of an electoral test for this Government", he said.
Sinn Fein TD Aengus O Snodaigh said the Government was betraying the poorest around the world.
"The spending estimate for Overseas Development Aid, while implying a welcome increase in this state's assistance to developing countries, falls short of a genuine effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals," he said.
Meanwhile, IBEC's director of economic policy Danny McCoy said the Estimates-Budget division was disjointed and would not encourage efficient public spending.
He said: "The allocation of addition funding for an extra 4,000 childcare places is a move in the right direction but is significantly below the rate of expansion required for the needs of our modern society."
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions expressed concern about the apparent focus on child benefit as a solution to the childcare crisis.
Congress Economic Advisor Paul Sweeney said: "Increasing Child Benefit is not a solution to the Childcare Crisis. Child benefit is for child rearing - not child caring. It is an important tool for the alleviation of child poverty. This will do very little to address the problems faced by working parents."
SIPTU claimed the Government was being complacent about the protection of workers' rights, with no extra funding for Labour Inspectors.