Increased tax take drives up Government surplus

Finance Minister Jack Chambers. According to the CSO, total Government revenue for this period stood at €33.4bn — an increase of €3.7bn year-on-year — with total expenditure reaching €29.7bn.

The Government recorded a surplus of €3.7bn between April and June driven largely by increased revenue from taxes and social contributions, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.

This surplus was recorded in spite of a €1.5bn increase in expenditure during the three months compared to the same period last year.

According to the CSO, total Government revenue for this period stood at €33.4bn — an increase of €3.7bn year-on-year — with total expenditure reaching €29.7bn. Revenue from taxes increased by €3.3bn, while revenue from social contributions increased by €400m.

The increase in expenditure came from a range of items, with growth driven by employee compensation, intermediate consumption, social benefits and gross fixed capital formation.

This resulted in the Government recording a surplus of €3.7bn during the second quarter, compared with €1.5bn during the same time last year.

General government surplus of €3.7 billion in Quarter 2 2024https://t.co/5wPgUlJbsk#CSOIreland #Ireland #NationalAccounts #BalanceofPayments #Economy #Economics #Macroeconomics #EconomicIndicators #GovernmentFinances #GovernmentAccounts #EconomicActivity #Output #ValueAdded pic.twitter.com/KEHvQn9IYF

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) October 22, 2024

As of the end of June, general Government debt stood at €216.9bn — an increase of €1.1bn over the quarter. This was accounted for almost entirely by the movement in long-term securities, with a net €967 million of Irish Government bonds issued in the quarter.

The debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio was 42.8% at the end of Q2 2024, an uptick of 0.3 percentage points from the end of March.

The increase in the ratio was driven both by the rise in the level of debt as well as a fall in GDP in the quarter, according to the CSO.