The state has taken in 11.2 billion euro in the first three months of the year.

That’s an increase of 6.4 percent compared to the first quarter of last year, but 3.4 percent less than expected.

Excise duty has performed particularly strongly in the past year – increasing by almost 30 percent to 1.5 billion euro.

New cars, cigarettes and alcohol are among those contributing to the rise, according to John Palmer from the Department of Finance: