Although exchequer returns published this afternoon indicate that the public finances have improved slightly year-on-year, tax revenue remains well below predictions made when the budget was published in December.
Tax revenue to the end of last month rose slightly more than one per cent when compared to the same period last year however this is well below Government forecast last December of an increase of 8.6 per cent.
Expenditure continues to rise at an annual rate of 18.9 per cent compared to a Budget forecast of 14.4 per cent.
The Labour Party spokesman on Finance, Mr Brendan Howlin blamed the latest figures on a "gross mismanagement of the economy" by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy.
Mr Howlin said the latest figures pointed to the "grossly fraudulent nature of the election campaign conducted by Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats".
"It is clear that if the Government is to meet its own stated objective of meeting Budget Day expenditure targets then the severity of cutbacks in the final year will be even harsher than those announced so far," he said.
Fine Gael's finance spokesman Mr Richard Bruton was equally scathing and said further Government spending cuts were inevitable.
When you look beneath the overall figures, you find that three departments ' Tourism and Sport, Agriculture and Environment ' will have to do with significantly less money.' Mr Bruton said.
The sad truth is that in the Budget of 2002, the Government misrepresented the true cost of the commitments which they entered into,' he added.
The Exchequer Returns recorded a surplus of €952 million compared to a surplus of almost €3 billion at the end of August last year.