Read the Exchequer Statement
Tax receipts totalled €14.4bn by the end of June.
The Department of Finance spent €21.5bn in the first six months of 2010, which was 6.2% less than in the same period last year.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the target of collecting €31bn in tax this year is achieveable.
He said: 'Today's figures reinforce the message from the National Accounts published this week that the economy has moved out of recession and we are returning to growth.'
Fine Gael Finance Spokesman Michael Noonan TD warned that the latest drop in income tax receipts indicates that the jobs crisis is getting worse.
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Spokesperson on Finance Joan Burton says that today's exchequer returns confirm this week's bad news on the economy.
She said that whatever uplift is occurring is not feeding into employment and the Government has no strategy for jobs.
Dept of Finance website
