Industrial production in Ireland's manufacturing sector rose a seasonally adjusted 5.5 per cent in the three months to end-September when compared with the previous three months, data showed today.
On an annual basis, September production in the manufacturing industry was 0.4 per cent higher than in the same month in 2004, the Central Statistics Office said.
In the quarter to August production rose 9.7 per cent, while on an annual basis production in August was up 16.7 per cent.
Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Bloxham Stockbrokers, said that despite a pick-up in industrial output in the third quarter - and a potential boost to exports from a recent fall in the euro against the US dollar - he believed the sector remained fundamentally weak.
"We continue to believe there is every chance it will post its first average annual decrease since 1982 in 2005," he said.
The so-called modern sector, comprising a number of high-technology and chemical industries, showed an annual decrease in production for September 2005 of 0.9 per cent, while a rise of 3.4 per cent was recorded in the traditional sector.
In August the modern sector showed a rise of 25 per cent, while the traditional sector was up 1.9 per cent.