13,023 Irish companies were formed between January and October of 2013 - this is over 11% up on the same period last year - in fact, every month of 2013 has seen an increase in company start-ups compared to the corresponding month in 2012.

This is the highest figure for company start-ups that we've seen since the onset of the recession (15,907 companies were formed in the first 10 months of 2007).

A number of industries have performed well and grown this year in these improving conditions.

There were almost 2,800 companies trading as normal in agriculture sector at the start of the year - this figure has increased by approximately 15% to just under 3,200.

The IT sector is up 14% while the health & social services, education, motor and social & personal services industries have all seen growth of over 10% this year.