Government revenue rose to almost €31bn at the beginning of 2025 

The CSO reported a general Government budget surplus of €0.8bn for the first three months of this year

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe. In the first quarter of 2025, the general government gross debt fell by nearly €9.14bn, with Ireland's debt-to-GDP ratio being 34.9% at the end of the period
Photo: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie

The Government's total revenue rose by €2bn in the first three months of this year, which was underpinned by a rise in taxes and social contributions. 

New figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Friday show that total general government revenue rose to almost €31bn between January and March of this year. Meanwhile, government expenditure also increased year-over-year, reaching €30.1bn in the first three months of 2025. 

This was €0.5bn higher compared to the same period in 2024, with the rise being underpinned by increases in pay, intermediate consumption, and gross fixed capital formation.

"Expenditure was €0.5bn higher mainly due to growth in compensation of employees of €0.7bn, intermediate consumption of €0.3bn, and gross fixed capital formation of another €0.3bn," the CSO said, adding that these increases offset a decrease in other current transfers of €0.7bn.

This resulted in a general government balance of €0.8bn between January and March of this year, the CSO said, which is up from a deficit of €0.7bn in the same period in 2024. 

In the first quarter of 2025, the general government gross debt fell by nearly €9.14bn, with Ireland's debt-to-GDP ratio being 34.9% at the end of the period, marking a decrease of 3.7 percentage points compared to the previous three months. 

The decrease in the ratio was driven by a significant fall in the level of debt, in addition to a significant rise in the GDP in the quarter, the CSO said.

Over the same time frame, the net debt-to-GDP ratio fell from 27.9% to 25.4% due to a significant decrease in currency and deposit assets from the fourth quarter.