The Irish economy grew faster than expected last year, according to official figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

It says GDP grew by 5.2% last year - significantly higher than the 4.7% expected in the budget.

GNP, which strips out the impact of multinationals, shows an even-higher increase by 6.9%.

Statistician Michael Connolly says the Irish economy is now the same size as it was before the collapse.

It follows an improved forecast from the Central Bank yesterday, which said it now expects the economy to outperform what it previously thought.

In its quarterly bulletin it says GDP of 4.1% is now expected for 2015 - up 0.3% on its previous forecast three months ago.

It is also predicting growth of 4.2% next year, which is a full half percentage point higher than previous forecasts.

The Central Bank said the government does not need to do anything to stimulate growth and that extra revenues should be used for debt reduction rather than for any pre-election giveaway.

The bank says the momentum of domestic recovery has strengthened and the outlook is now more favourable.