Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

The Exchequer returns for the first half of the year were published at the beginning of the month and the Deputy has just touched on them. VAT receipts amounted to €11.6 billion, which is an increase of €600 million and is just under 6% higher than in the first half of last year. The growth in VAT is consistent with the increase in consumer spending. On an annual basis, nominal spending was up by 4.7% in the first quarter of the year, the latest for which data is available. High-frequency indicators such as card payment data suggest that positive momentum has continued into the second quarter, which is also consistent with the VAT data I shared with the Deputy.

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