Initiatives to tackle housing shortages, insurance costs and child poverty have been negotiated as part of a new social partnership programme.
After talks ended at the weekend, however, community and voluntary groups offered a mixed reaction to the outcome. Father Seán Healy of the CORI Justice Commission said a "modest programme" had emerged which his organisation had not yet signed up to.
The Government had put no resources on the table, he said, but it had made an important concession in restating its commitment to have the lowest social welfare rates increased to €150 per week, at 2002 levels, by 2007.
This was a crucial issue, he said, as the trend had moved in the other direction in the December Budget. The agreement now was that progress towards the target would be made in the lifetime of the new agreement.
The National Youth Council of Ireland, which was also represented at the talks, said the programme set out "an ambitious agenda", but was short on specifics.
"From a youth perspective it focuses on some key youth issues, but it will take commitment and resources to ensure we get results over the next three years," said the organisation's lead negotiator, Mr Donal Geoghegan.
"The negotiations were tough. What's in it is probably the best we could get in difficult circumstances".
However, the Community Platform, an umbrella group of 26 community and voluntary organisations, was scathing about the outcome.
A spokeswoman, Ms Frances Byrne, said the proposals amounted to "a programme for austerity and vagueness".
It had offered no specific commitments to address social inclusion and had effectively created "two-tier social partnership", she claimed.
"We are very unhappy, and I would be very pessimistic about the chances of this being accepted by our members. There is a specific deal on pay for unions and employers, but there is no pay deal for people on social welfare."
The "special incentives" in the new agreement are under the following headings:
Housing and accommodation
Cost and availability of insurance
Migration and inter-culturalism
Long-term unemployed, vulnerable workers and those who have been made redundant
Tackling educational disadvantage, such as literacy, numeracy and early school-leaving
Waste management
Care (including childcare)
Alcohol/drug abuse
Inclusion of all in the information society
Ending child poverty.
There are also new mechanisms for overseeing the implementation of the programme, with a steering group to be set up representing each of the social partners.
Father Healy said these arrangements were a welcome feature of the proposed deal, as they provided a mechanism for any of the social partners to have an area they felt was not being addressed "to the centre of the process immediately".
There were also new "flexibility" arrangements, he said, enabling the programme to be adjusted according to available resources.
The Community Platform is expected to discuss the final document, expected to be available today, on Thursday.
