Economy on target to meet Budget forecast of 4.7% GDP Growth in 2014

Commenting on today’s GDP figures the Minister for Finance, Mr. Michael Noonan T.D.  stated “Budget 2015 is built upon GDP growth of 4.7% in 2014 and 3.9% in 2015. Today’s figures from the CSO show that the Irish economy has grown by 0.1% in Q3 and 3.5% over the year.  As the CSO has pointed out GDP rose by 4.9% in the first 9 months of the year and therefore we are on target to meet our 2015 Budget forecasts.

The economy continued to grow in Q3, albeit at a slower rate than the exceptional growth rates seen in Q2, and most importantly this growth is translating into jobs.

The strong income tax and the VAT figures seen in the exchequer returns, coupled with the positive high frequency data, highlight the ongoing recovery in the Irish economy.

However, the recovery should not be taken for granted and there are risks.  That is why Budget 2015 was designed to strengthen and broaden this recovery and targeted measures were introduced to boost key sectors of the economy including tourism, agriculture, construction and FDI.

Budget 2015 was also the first year of this Governments strategy to reduce income tax and USC,  and every worker paying tax or USC  will start to see an increase in their take home pay in 2015. This is designed to boost consumer confidence and demand and will further improve Ireland’s competiveness and attractiveness  as a destination for investment and job creation.