The Government should focus on solving “structural” issues holding back home building rather than on policies that may lead to higher house prices, according to a major report by Davy.

The Government has been urged to do more to close the gap between pay levels in the public and private sectors, which is widening according to latest CSO data.

Almost all categories of retail sales are posting increases helped by the drop in the value of sterling against the euro which is pulling down the prices of many goods in Irish shops.

House prices will rise 10% this year across the State and climb at even faster pace outside of Dublin, fuelled by the Government’s Help to Buy scheme and the Central Bank’s loosening of its mortgage lending controls, Davy Stockbrokers has predicted.

The Department of Finance has expressed disappointment at the continuing underperformance of tax revenues, but will be looking to May’s figures — traditionally a big revenue month on all tax fronts — as a better indicator for the full year.

A surprisingly broad-based growth in exports in the first few months of the year show that the Irish economy may have weathered the initial fallout from Brexit following sterling’s drop against the euro since the UK’s vote last June, analysts said.

Tipperary 0-14 Clare 0-10: Tipperary survived a determined Clare rally in the closing 20 minutes of the inaugural Munster U17 football quarter-final at Semple Stadium, Thurles, last evening to clinch a semi-final clash with Kerry next month.

The number of young people who are out of work has fallen by almost a third in just two years, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The drop in the value of sterling because of Brexit is weighing on the purchase of new cars but spending in many other areas of the economy appears to be holding up, the latest retail spending figures suggest.

Irish-owned firms which employ large numbers of people are being hit by the slump in sterling, the latest trade figures suggest.

Ostensibly booming pre-Christmas retail sales data capped a good week for the economy, as surveys on the services industry and start-ups pointed to a good start for 2017.

A leading economist has said the Government needs to explain to the public just how reliant public services are on the taxes paid by large corporations.

The Government’s tax take for November was more than 2% or €177m ahead of target, largely driven by another strong month for corporation tax. It is the most important month of the year for tax receipts.

Preliminary figures published yesterday by the CSO indicate an impressive recovery in Irish export performance in August, suggesting an initial easing in early Brexit concerns.

Irish construction output grew by 16.5%, year-on-year, in volume terms during the second quarter of the year, according to fresh CSO data published yesterday.

Ireland is still expected to turn a record trade surplus this year, despite latest preliminary data from the CSO showing export performance beginning to wane even before last month’s Brexit vote.

The number of people unemployed in Ireland fell to its lowest level — 169,100 — in nearly eight years last month but not by enough to change the unemployment rate which remained at 7.8%.

Soaring sales of hardware and cars and furniture and lighting — the sectors worst hit during the long years of the financial crisis — were the best performers of the 13 retail business groups in May, but analysts said following the Brexit vote that further strong growth cannot be taken for granted.

Disappointing some expectations, S&P Global Ratings — the new name for Standard & Poor’s — left its ratings unchanged for Ireland yesterday, citing the potential washback on the Irish economy should the UK decide to leave the EU in the referendum that takes place in less than three weeks.

The Government yesterday received encouraging fiscal news as exchequer returns showed a “strong and robust” flow of tax receipts in May and on-budget spending for all but one department.

The UK exiting the EU is unlikely to hurt Ireland’s economic recovery in the near-term, but could have negative long-term consequences for both countries, Davy Stockbrokers has warned.

Commentators still expect the economy to continue its impressive growth surge this year following its best performance in 15 years despite domestic political uncertainty, the Brexit threat and a slowing global economy.

Finance Minister, Michael Noonan has vowed the country will avoid repeating past mistakes and won’t return to a ‘boom and bust’ cycle on the back of its current strong economic recovery.

The Coalition got good news on the double yesterday after leading economists forecast that rock-bottom interest rates are here to stay, while year-end tax figures massively beat expectations.

The ECB may only hike rock-bottom interest rates as late as mid-2019, Irish economists have predicted. Eurozone inflation figures published yesterday showed inflation across the bloc remains low.

Retail sales rose in September, suggesting that the pick-up in consumer spending which the Government is relying on to drive the second wave of the economic recovery is still on course.

Official figures showing a slowdown in the huge pace of manufacturing production this year has raised the first warning about the outlook for exports.

The number of people signing on the Live Register climbed for the first time in more than two years last month, pointing towards slowing job creation.

The economy is growing at such a huge rate that the recovery is approaching a virtuous path similar to the early Celtic Tiger years before the emergence of the credit-fuelled crash.

The wife of a serving Garda told a court yesterday that she was “afraid, disgusted, and horrified” when a box containing a severed pig’s head was delivered to her home.

Production levels at Irish-based manufacturing firms are expected to show a jump of up to 25% for 2014, compared to a drop of 2.1% last year.

A persistent low inflation rate could lead to a rise in stealth taxes in next week’s budget, one economist has warned.

Ireland’s unemployment rate could fall to 10% next year, on the back of continuous declines in people signing on the dole.

Consumer spending is still expected to make a first annual positive contribution to Ireland’s economic growth for four years despite a dip in volumes in August.

Official estimates underplay the amount of room the economy has left to grow with many indicators still far below pre-recession levels despite recent improvements.

Figures released yesterday by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which indicated a decrease in the level of residential construction are probably not an accurate reflection of the housing market.

Just one in five people working in the marketing profession has even entry level digital marketing competency and if the deficiency is not addressed, the country will not achieve the 150,000 jobs which could potentially be created in the digital economy by 2020.

The savings to the exchequer of refinancing Ireland’s IMF loans could be as much as €125m higher than initially thought.