The leader of Fine Gael, Mr Enda Kenny has dismissed the "so-called" new Cabinet by saying he "wanted to nail the lie that this is a new Government".
He said it was the same old Fianna Fail and Progressive Democrats Government which knew it had got it wrong and was found out and punished in the local elections. And he quipped, if appointing Mr Willie O'Dea to the Department of Defence was the answer, "what was the question?"
"The reshuffle presents us with three 'new' faces at the Cabinet table. These changes will not alter the trajectory of a Government that is now well into its 8th year in office. This is not a new Government. Every new Minister appointed or re-appointed here today, accepted and supported the decisions, the actions, and the inaction, of their predecessors over the last seven years." He said any change is just cosmetic, a "cheap veneer".
"Two years later, they're back, 'the new improved version', trying to pull the same confidence trick. So, let's be clear on this: collective responsibility, collective guilt. The new Ministers here are every bit as guilty as the old."
Continuing the moving deckchairs theme Labour Party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte said the reshuffle was "remarkable" considering the Taoiseach was seeking a new direction and new policies with the same faces.
Referring to the three promoted Ministers of State, Ms Mary Hanafin as the Minister of Education, Mr Willie O'Dea as the Minister of Defence and Mr Dick Roche to the Department of the Environment, Mr Rabbitte said these new Cabinet appointees were amongst the most vocal supporters of previous Government policies which proved so unpopular with the Government.
He expressed particular concern that Mr Seamus Brennan has been appointed to Social and Family Affairs. Referring to his perceived right-wing philosophy, Mr Rabbitte said the new Minister was "more PD than the PDs themselves".
Sinn Fein Dail leader, Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, also picked up on the theme, saying the reshuffle would do nothing to ease the concerns of Fianna Fail backbenchers annoyed at influence of the more right-wing junior coalition partner.
"This reshuffle has increased the power in Cabinet of the PDs [who] are without doubt currently imposing their influence on this Government,"
"I believe this is about change of image and I do not believe it is about change of substance".
Green Party leader Mr Trevor Sargent said the changes left him "cold". What we are seeing is a Politburo approach where seniority is the determining factor in who gets appointments," he said.
"For those who were crying out for change it certainly doesn't do much," he said.
Mr Joe Higgins said the Government would remain "right-wing in the extreme" and would not be congratulating the Taoiseach or the Government.
He said plans were being prepared to privatise Aer Lingus were particularly scandalous. Management at the airline were tasked with protecting a national asset but were instead planning it s downfall. "What is being done to our national airline deserves summary dismissal," he said.