New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the unemployment rate continued to fall in April.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April fell to 6.2%, down from 6.4% in March.
This was the lowest level since May 2008 and was down from 8.4% in April of last year.
The CSO said that the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed stood at 135,800 in April.
This was down from 140,600 in March while it was also a decrease of 47,300 when compared to April 2016.
Unemployment has consistently fallen since hitting a peak of 15.1% in 2012 when the country was in the middle of a three-year international bailout and jobs growth has accelerated further in recent months.
The Finance Department last month estimated that the jobless rate would dip below 6% by the end of this year.
This means that the economy could reach full employment next year with the unemployment rate forecast to remain at 5.5% from 2018 onwards.
Today's figures from the CSO show that the the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in April for men was 6.7%, down from 9.7% the same time last year, while the jobless rate for women was 5.5%, down from 6.8% last April.
Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for young people decreased to 12.9% in April from 13.7% in March.
The Minister of State for Employment and Small Business said the fall showed that the Government's jobs strategy was working.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Pat Breen said there are nearly 5,000 more people working this month than last month.
He said Governments prudent management of the economy is paying off.
