The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the economy performed steadily in the second quarter of 2006, boosted by strong personal consumption and a still booming construction sector.
The figures show that gross domestic product - the value of all goods and services produced here - moved forward at an annual rate of 5% compared to the same time last year.
The CSO said that gross national product, which excludes the income earned by foreign multinationals based here, jumped by 9% in the months from April to June. The CSO says this jump is due to the fact that net factor outflows in the second quarter of last year were unusually large and resulted in a low GNP figure for that quarter.
Today's figures reveal that consumer spending rose by 6.7% in the second quarter of 2006 compared to the same time in 2005. However, capital spending was down 2.2%.
The CSO also said that net exports were worth €131m less in the second quarter of 2006 compared with a year ago. This means that while people are buying more and more, the products are being imported and the country's exports are not keeping up the pace of increase. The contribution of net exports to economic growth was negative for the first time in decades.
The Irish construction sector continued to perform strongly in the second quarter of the year, with a 5% increase in housing and a 12% rise in infrastructure and commerical building.
Separate figures from the CSO show that there was a deficit of €1.77 billion in the current account of the Balance of Payments in the second quarter of 2006. This was €346m higher than in the same period last year.
The deficit so far in 2006 is up almost €700m on H1 2005 at €3.8 billion.
Goods export figures were little changed, but the services deficit climbed to €2.3 billion.
