Today’s exchequer figures for the six months to the 30th June show that the government took in almost a €1bn (€980 million) more in taxation than they planned to in December’s budget.

The bulk of this massive surge in taxation is from stamp duty, which is up €332 million as the housing market continues to boom and from other capital taxes and corporation tax.

“Other taxes are slightly below profile and which is worrying, particularly in relation to income tax. These low figures suggest that displacement issues, loss of higher paid manufacturing jobs and whether or not there are increasing numbers of people employed at lower wages are factors that must be addressed.

“The profile of capital spending remains a problem for the government with the capital spend €172 million below the projected increase. This means that the government is still failing to get delivery of key capital projects on time particularly in respect of public transport and the building of new schools on a timely basis.”