The last set of Exchequer Returns before the Budget show the public finances are over a billion euro better off than expected.
The figures for the first three-quarters of the year show the state's income is over 3 per cent ahead of target, while spending has turned out almost exactly as expected.
The figures, released this evening, are the last details the finance ministers were waiting on, before they could start putting the finishing touches to the Budget in 12 days' time.
They show the 'big four' tax categories of Income Tax, VAT, excise duty and corporate tax are all ahead of target so far this year - and overall, the state's income is 3.5 per cent higher than we expected a year ago.
On the spending side, health remains the biggest concern - it's overshot its budget by 390 million in nine months - but even including that, spending is only 0-point-3 per cent higher than forecast.
So the figures are strong - and evidently much stronger than the government had expected only a few months ago - but they don't pave the way for a giveaway budget.
The state's borrowed six billion euro so far this year just to keep the lights on - and there simply isn't much cash to splash in the Budget in two weeks.
