Fine Gael last night welcomed the emphasis on social inclusion in the national pay deal.
The party's representative on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mrs Nora Owen, said partnership had been crucial to Ireland's economic success over the last 10 years, and approval of this package would be vital to continued success.
Mrs Owen said it would be up to the Government to deliver on its commitments with regard to taxation, childcare and social welfare.
"Clearly the Government's mishandling of the Budget and its failure to deliver enough for the low paid in tax breaks dominated the negotiations," she commented.
The leader of the Labour Party, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said the agreement represented a significant U-turn by the Government.
The tax package in the agreement, he said, was the one the Minister should have begun to introduce on Budget day. "It is well designed to reward people entering the labour market and is less inflationary than the Minister's bonanza for the well off," he said.
The pay rises represented the increase in labour productivity and should not pose a threat to the economy. He congratulated the community and voluntary sector for the concessions it had extracted on several issues.
"There are, of course, people who will be disappointed with particular aspects of the agreement and the final decision on it will have to be taken by the rank-and-file members of those organisations which were parties to the negotiations."
Mr Quinn welcomed the package on social inclusion but said it was still substantially below the Government's combined tax commitments.
After years of successive reductions in tax, it was time to develop other and broader social priorities as further across-the-board tax cuts could come only at the expense of spending on important social issues, he said.
The Chambers of Commerce of Ireland warned, however, that significant wage increases included in the agreement would prevent small firms from hiring extra staff.
In a statement the CCI welcomed the conclusion of the agreement, as it would provide a better standard of living for citizens. But it also expressed concern at the public and private sector pay increases.
"The benefits will be lost if the public and private sector pay bill spirals over the next few years, and we are not convinced that this deal or Government policy adequately addresses that problem," said Mr Simon Nugent, chief executive of the CCI.
"Many small companies are telling us that they will find it difficult to meet the pay demands over the next three years," he added.