The Jobs Minister Richard Bruton says a goal of seeing full employment here by 2018 is "realistic".

His comments come as the number of people in work is now at its highest level in six years.

According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the rate of seasonally adjusted unemployment fell from 10.0% to 9.6% over the quarter.

While the seasonally adjusted number of persons unemployed fell by 7,100.

Unemployment decreased by 43,300 in the year to the second quarter - bringing the total number of unemployed people here to 211,200.

This is the 12th consecutive quarter where unemployment has dropped on an annual basis.

The long-term unemployment rate also fell - from 6.8% to 5.5% over the year.

And the unemployment rate for 15 to 24-year-olds was also down from 26.9% to 22.4% over the same period.

Edel Flannery from the CSO says the labour market is now at its largest size since 2009.

"The seasonally adjusted number of persons in employment in Q2 2015 - 1,963,600 - is the highest level of seasonally adjusted employment recorded since the second quarter of 2009, when the comparable figure was 1,970,800" she said.

Minister Bruton told Newstalk Lunchtime the jobs are coming from strong sectors.

The Tánaiste Joan Burton says the figures show Ireland is "very well set" to deal with economic issues.