Former Minister for Agriculture and Newstalk presenter Ivan Yates reacted to the announcements made as part of Budget 2016 - the last before the next general election.

This fiscal plan had become known as the "leakiest budget" of all time, indeed many of Yates' predictions over recent weeks proved correct.

The first of the measures - a 50 cent increase on a packet of 20 cigarettes - is already in place, having come into effect the day after the budget was announced.

But it was one of the only punitive measures: otherwise it was a giveaway budget with gains for workers in all of the following headline areas: 

• Universal Social Charge cut
• Welfare benefits up - including child benefit and old age pension increases
• Investment in childcare
• Property tax frozen

Ivan reflected on the new arrangements on Newstalk.com's Breakfast show: