The Government was given a welcome boost today by the news that the economy is growing faster than anticipated.
Ireland is now closer to reaching our debt targets set by the Troika -- with new figures showing a shrinking of our budget deficit.
However despite the positive outlook, Finance Minister Michael Noonan (pictured) still intends to impose the agreed cuts of €3.5bn in December's Budget.
The figures, released by the Central Statistics Office, also show that individual incomes fell by 2.1pc last year, with farmers being the exception.