The Irish Services sector is defying expectations recording its second highest reading since January 2016.
New figures show a massive increase in demand for services as the economy returns to normal.
Oliver Mangan is chief economist with Allied Irish Bank which has surveyed services activity for the month of September.
He says there appears to be huge demand for services across a range of areas as the economy re-opens.
"There's a lot of pent up demand in the economy, and that's being released as the economy opens up.
"The sum components show that the strong growth is right across all the sectors in the survey.
"It covers business services, financial services, telecoms and media, tourism transport and leisure - all experiencing rapid growth as the economy has reopened."
