15,073 company start-ups have been formed so far this year, this is less than 600 fewer than we saw in all of last year (15,662).

Every month this year has seen more company start-ups in Ireland than the corresponding one in 2013 - this has led to the number of new companies being almost 13% in excess of what we saw during the same period of last year (15,073 v 13,348).

If start-ups for the last two months of this year remain in line with what we've seen for the rest of the year, we will see over 17,000 new companies formed in Ireland in 2014- the highest we've seen since 2007. Since 2007, company start-ups have not been able to reach the 15,700 mark.

The most popular industry for company start-ups this year is professional services which has accounted for a quarter of all new companies. Wholesale & retail and social & personal services are the next two industries on the list making up 10.5% and 9% of start-ups respectively.

This year has also seen almost 25,000 individuals (24,966) become directors of an Irish company for the first time - this figure is no doubt aided by the rise in start-ups.