The public finances recorded a surplus of €1.4 billion at the end of May, according to the latest Exchequer figures from the Department of Finance.
This compares to a deficit of just over €6 billion at the same time last year, an improvement of over €7.4 billion, boosted by strong tax returns.
These days, the Department of Finance prefers to use a rolling 12 month figure to give a snapshot of the public finances.
On that measure they are broadly in balance, with a small surplus of €32 million.
But the turnaround improvement of €7.4 billion compared to this time last year is based on some very strong tax returns.
Overall tax revenue is up 27% or €6.4 billion to just over €30 billion for the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year, boosted by VAT, income tax and corporation tax.
Income tax receipts are 17% higher, VAT 29% higher and corporation tax is 77% or €2.3 billion higher than over the same period in 2021.
Customs receipts are also 29% higher, which the Department attributes to increased trade with the UK which had dipped last year in the aftermath of Brexit.
Voted expenditure was just under 4% or €1.2 billion less than spending at this point last year.
Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe said today's figures show that tax receipts remain robust with strong growth evident in the vast majority of tax heads.
"While the annual comparisons are distorted due to a number of factors, in particular the public health restrictions that were in place last year, the underlying trends are a good signal of the continued momentum in the domestic economy," he said in a statement.
However, given global inflationary pressures, Minister Donohoe said monetary policy will become less "accommodative" going forward.
"Indeed, we can no longer assume that the highly favourable interest rate environment that has prevailed recently will continue. What is clear is that the higher our level of public debt, the more severe the implications of any rise in borrowing costs will be. We also know that our prospects for affordable borrowing costs are improved with careful management of the public finances," he added.
