The exchequer has recorded a surplus for the first 11 months of the year - the first time that's happened in eight years.

Figures published this afternoon show the tax take almost €3 billion ahead of predictions, led by a bumper month for corporation tax, which came in over €300 million higher than planned.

Almost every tax category is ahead of target, with Health the only department with any significant overspend. 

By comparison, at the same time last year, the state had run a deficit of almost €5.8 billion.

When one-off transactions are excluded, the Department of Finance said, the state would be running a deficit - but only of around €1 billion, significantly down on last year's performance.

Enda Kenny says the public as a whole deserves credit for the remarkable turnaround:

There's a broad welcome for the results - but Fianna Fáil's Michael McGrath says the corporate tax figures don't reflect life on the ground.

Sinn Féin's Peadar Toibin says it's too reliant on too few companies:

Richard Boyd Barrett of People Before Profit is concerned at where the money's going.