"The Revenue Commissioners are still quite confident that the figures will right themselves as the year goes by but I think we can safely say at this stage that we will not have the kind of overrun in tax receipts which we had for the last two years," Noonan told parliament.

"We'll have a better idea when the May and June receipts come in. By the half year we'll see if the initial concerns are justified or if things are righting themselves."