Revenues exceed forecast

Tax revenues continue to exceed expectations while the Government is failing to meet its spending targets, according to the final set of Government accounts to be published before the Budget .

The exchequer returns for the first 11 months of the year show that revenues from taxes and other sources exceeded expenditure by €2.959 billion. This compares to a surplus of €1.89 billion for the same period last year.

Tax revenues in the year to the end of November totalled €36.879 billion, almost 5 per cent ahead of the target set by the Government. The strongest performers were VAT at €504 million ahead of target and income tax at €284 million ahead of target.

The income tax figures includes once-off revenues raised by the Revenue Commissioners from investigations into off-shore assets and other issues.

Corporation tax was some €273 million bellow expectation, but "fits with the general weakness in Irish manufacturing in 2005, though there have been some signs of improvement in this sector in the latter part of the the year", according to Alan McQuaid of Bloxham.

Current expenditure grew by 7.6 per cent to €35.281 billion in the same period. This compares with the target set in the revised estimates for the year of 11 per cent.

The shortfall in capital spending was 20 per cent or €749 million, according to the Labour party spokeswoman Joan Burton. "With a full-blown crisis in both road and public transport capacity, it is difficult to credit that the Government is incapable of delivering on its transport plans," she said last night.