Department of Finance officials say they fully expect to clear the excessive deficit in the country’s finances by the end of the year.

Last month, the deficit stood at €292m, compared to almost €5bn in June last year.

Today it was announced that Ireland's tax take is ahead of target for the first half of the year, with €20.6bn collected to the end of June.

In year-on-year terms, tax revenues increased by €2.1bn or almost 12 per cent.

The increase comes on the back of strong corporation tax receipts, the bulk of which come from the multinational sector.

John Palmer from the Department of Finance says the tax take was higher than expected: