In the first three months of the year, 10,741 business and company start-ups were registered, according to business risk analyst Vision-net.

The company found that in Cork alone so far this year, there were 365 company start-ups, mostly across the construction, retail, services, and agricultural sectors.

Christine Cullen, the managing director of Vision-net, said the increase in the number of new companies is proof that confidence is returning to the economy.

“The large number of new business start-ups, combined with the highest number of company incorporations in the first quarter since the crash, indicates that businesses are operating in a less hostile environment, where greater access to credit is improving,” Ms Cullen said.

There was a 23% drop in the number of insolvencies in the first three months of 2014 compared to the same period last year.

The construction sector continued to be the most insolvent sector in the country. It accounted for almost a fifth of all insolvencies.

Professional services and retail businesses were the next two most insolvent sectors.

Dublin led the insolvencies league table with 44% of all companies going out of business, followed by Cork with 8.6%, and Wexford on 6.6%.

At the other extreme, Leitrim is the only county not to have experienced a single insolvency in 2014 thus far.

Across 979 corporate and consumer judgments made in the first quarter, some €64.1m was awarded to creditors for non-payment of debts.

Of these, 719 judgments worth €51.1m were awarded against consumers this quarter, an average of €71,024 per judgment.