Figures from the Department of Finance show that the Government had to borrow almost €3.95bn the first three months of this year, compared with €3.72bn in the same period last year.
The total tax take was just over €7.2bn, €266m less than the Government had been targeting. It is also 15% lower than the figure for the first quarter of 2009.
But total spending was also €225m lower than estimated at €10.7bn.
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said the figures were broadly in line with his Budget plan. He said falls in tax revenue had been expected in the early months of this year, and his Budget forecast for a 6% drop in tax receipts this year was 'still a valid target'.
The Department of Finance said the rate of decline in tax revenue is easing.
The department expects a return to economic growth in the second half of the year, leading to an overall reduction in tax take for the year of 6%.
A breakdown of the tax take showed that €2.6bn of income tax was taken in, just over €100m or 3.9% behind expectations, while VAT at €3.2bn was only marginally behind target.
Corporation tax was more than 45% behind target, however, at €121m, while stamp duties continued to be weak, falling more than 20% behind expectations at €142m. Capital gains tax was 55% ahead of projections at €106m.
The figures also show that interest payments on the national debt in the first quarter of this year were more than €733m, compared with just under €300m a year earlier.
