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The public finances deteriorated in October, but only slightly, according to the latest Exchequer returns data from the Department of Finance.

The Government has collected tax revenues of €26 billion for the first 10 months of the year, a sum that is 4 per cent lower than targets set in April.

Tax revenues are now 17.1 per cent lower for the January-October period than they were in the same period in 2008. In September, they were running 16.8 per cent behind target.

The Department's figures show that income tax receipts slipped further behind its projections in October and are now €625 million or 6.4 per cent lower than its target for this category of tax.

Spending by the Government is 1.4 per cent below its targets and 1.6 per cent below spending in the same period last year.

Current or day-to-day Government spending is still up 0.8 per cent on last year, due to a 15 per cent rise in expenditure at the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

However, spending by this department, which is the result of the spike in unemployment, is no longer running ahead of projections, reflecting better-than-expected unemployment data in recent months.

Overall, the Exchequer deficit has reached €22.7 billion - more than double the deficit that existed at this time last year.