New figures released by AIB show that the bank made €5.6bn available in credit to Irish small and medium businesses in the year to the end of November - an increase of more than a half on the same period in 2013.

Last month, AIB approved €586m in loans to SMEs. The bank says that this increase is being driven by an uplift in economic activity and improved business and consumer confidence heading into the new year. 

Agriculture, retail, transport and hospitality have been named by the bank as four sectors which have been particularly active.

Farmers have been looking for loans to expand dairy operations ahead of the removal of milk quotas next year.

Light commercial vehicle registrations are up by 52 percent, and heavy goods registrations increased by 20 percent.

AIB also notes that there has been an increase in both commercial and residential property markets, adding: “This activity is in response to the underlying shortage in the supply of properties.”

In April AIB launched a €500m fund which was made available to SMEs working in agriculture - by the end of November half of that amount had been used.

In June it also started a €200m fund to help export businesses grow - €25m had been issued before the end of September.

A further €200m has been made available to support renewable energy projects.