The government tax-take fell slightly last month.
The Department of Finance says overall taxes were €77 million less than in February last year.
This is down to inflated income and corporation taxes in the early months of 2012.
Spending in Social Protection has fallen on last year which is probably due to 10,000 less people on the dole. But the Department of Health spending is €28 million up on the first 2 months of 2012.
Just over €2 billion in tax was collected in February which is a drop of €186 million on the same month last year. But the Department of Finance says there are one-off factors to explain the decreases.
With income tax which was down by 9% last month, the Department says this fall is because of a PRSI income tax re-classification which inflated last year's figures by €150 million.
The Department also says the 60% fall in Corporation Tax year-on-year reflects a delayed payment in receipts for December 2011.
