Official figures show that the economy continued to grow strongly in the first three months of this year, though housing investment was flat compared with the same period last year.
Gross national product (GNP) grew at an annual rate of 6.4% in the first quarter, little changed from the 6.5% recorded in 2006. GDP, which includes profits from foreign multinationals, grew by 7.5%.
A breakdown showed that consumer spending rose by 5.4%, while capital investment jumped by 13.3%, though this was boosted by spending on new planes.
Building and construction growth was 3.7%, but within this housing was little changed and the main increase came from infrastructure spending.
The CSO said that while conditions are tough for manufacturing, the sector is still showing growth. Industrial output rose by 14.4%. Net exports (exports minus imports) added an extra €278m to output compared with the first quarter of 2006.
Meanwhile, final figures for last year from the CSO show that GNP grew by 6.5%, while GDP rose by 5.7%. Consumer spending increased by 7.9% in 2006, while investment was up 9.4%.
