The EU’s statistics agency said Ireland’s seasonally adjusted budget surplus – where tax and other revenues are greater than expenditure – measured 2.4pc of gross domestic product (GDP) between April and June, compared to a deficit in the EU overall.

The Government prefers to measure Ireland’s debt and deficit using modified statistics which strip out some multinational transactions.

Only Denmark fared better, with a surplus of 2.8pc of GDP. Portugal came a close third after Ireland with a surplus of 2.3pc.

Most other EU countries, except Latvia and The Netherlands, had a budget deficit in the second quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms, meaning taxes and other revenues fell short of spending.

The average deficit in the 20-member euro area stood at 3.3pc of GDP in the second quarter, stable compared to the first quarter.

For the wider 27-member EU, the deficit stood at 3.2pc, an increase compared to 3.1pc in the first quarter of 2023.

Eurostat said measures to alleviate the impact of high energy prices continued to have a strong impact on the government balances in the second half of 2022 and into 2023.

The impact of measures to offset the Covid pandemic had a significantly lower impact than in previous quarters, the EU’s statistics agency said.

Ireland’s debt to GDP level was 43.1pc, well below the euro area average of over 90pc and the EU average of 83.1pc.

The highest debt levels were recorded in Greece (166.5pc), Italy (142.4pc) and France (111.9pc). Spain, Portugal and Belgium also had debt levels over 100pc.

Estonia had the lowest debt level at 18.5pc of GDP, followed by Bulgaria (21.5pc), Luxembourg (28.2pc) and Denmark (30.2pc).

Ireland also recorded one of the biggest reductions in debt-to-GDP compared to last year, with the debt falling more than seven points compared to the second quarter of 2022.

Greece, Portugal and Cyprus recorded larger decreases, while six countries – Luxembourg, Finland, Estonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria – saw a year on year increase in their debt.

Compared with the first quarter of 2023, nine countries registered an increase in their debt to GDP ratio and 18 (including Ireland) saw a decrease.

The Government estimates Ireland’s surplus will come in at €8.8bn this year, or 3pc of modified gross national income (GNI*), with debt of €222.7bn, working out at 76.1pc of GNI*.