Irish people are going to spend on average of €563 this Christmas - down from €600 in 2014.

That is according to the Irish League of Credit Unions Christmas spending survey, which also found that those aged 55 and over are spending the most on Christmas.

In terms of a breakdown, Dubliners will fork out €544, the rest of Leinster will spend €597, with Munster giving €587 and Connacht & Ulster at €510.

The survey also found that 45% of consumers are likely to borrow to cover costs - down from 51% in 2014 - with €388 being the average amount likely to be borrowed.

On average, it will take consumers 8½ weeks to recover from over-spending at Christmas, with women taking longer than men to recover financially.

A further 25% of consumers fear that money worries will make Christmas 2015 less enjoyable, down from 30% in 2014.

However, there has been a significant decrease in the number of people travelling outside of the Republic to do their Christmas shopping, down from 35% in 2014 to 19% in 2015.

They survey also found that 70% of females will shop online this Christmas, compared to 64% of males.

Personal finance commentator Frank Conway told Newstalk Breakfast that high lending is still a worry.