2016 tax take highest ever

The tax take for 2016 was the highest ever - with the State taking more tax than during the peak of the boom.

The state gathered nearly €48 billion in tax last year, according to the latest Exchequer Returns - higher than the previous peak of 2007.

The State ran a deficit of just over €1bn - but the Department of Finance says it's €800m better than last year's figure.

But John Palmer from the Department of Finance says it is not all rosy - as December was disappointing: "The tax performance for the month was a little bit disappointing coming in €150m below profile.

"And a key contribution to this was a large corporation tax repayment of about €150m Gross expenditure which had been well behind profile in November, caught up in December."