Official figures show that retail sales bounced back in March following a sharp fall in February.
The Central Statistics Office said the volume of sales rose by 1% in the month, following a 2.5% drop in February. This meant the annual rate of growth was 7.2%.
But the monthly increase was mainly due to a 2% rise in motor trade sales, as food, drink and tobacco sales fell by 5.4% and bar sales plunged by 6.3%.
The value of retail sales, which takes prices into account, was up 1.4% in the month and 8.2% over the year.
All of the CSO's retail sales figures are adjusted to take seasonal factors into account.
Economists pointed to the strong rise in the volume of sales in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. The rise was 6.8%, according to the CSO figures.
'Given that roughly half of SSIA funds were not released until the last days of March and April, there is reason to believe that this performance may improve in Q2 and Q3,' said Goodbody's Dermot O'Leary.
Bloxham's Alan McQuaid is still predicting an increase of 7.5% in personal spending on goods and services in 2007, up from an average rise of 6.2% in 2006, and its best performance since 2000.
