New figures show that consumer prices continued to rise last month, with the annual rate of inflation climbing to 3.2%.
The inflation rate, which has been rising steadily for the last year and a half, had stood at 3% in March.
The Central Statistics Office said that consumer prices increased by 0.4% in the month as household bills continued to increase. This compares to an increase of 0.2% in April of last year.
The rise in prices last month marks the 19th month in a row of increases in inflation and is the highest level since October 2008, when inflation reached 4%.
The CSO says that over the course of the year electricity, gas and fuel prices were 11.8% higher, with other goods and services up almost 9%. Phone and broadband costs were up 4%, while health costs also rose by 4%.
The cost of household maintenance fell, as did prices for clothes, shoes and furniture.
The Central Statistics Office says that during April transport costs rose mainly due to an increase in airfares and higher petrol and diesel prices. There were higher premiums for health, home and car insurance, while higher mortgage interest repayments were also noted last month.
Commenting on the latest CSO inflation figures, IBEC chief economist Fergal O'Brien inflation rates are likely to ease during the second half of 2011.
'The main contributors to the rise have been commodity prices and mortgage interest. While there will be further increases in mortgage interest in the coming months as the ECB increases are passed on to householders, other issues are likely to ease the overall inflationary pressures in the economy,' he said.
