The latest figures from the Central Bank show that the amount of money being lent to businesses fell in May after increasing in April.
The bank said the amount of money being repaid by firms exceeded the amount of new money being lent by €214m. Lending to businesses is down 3.4% compared with May last year, compared with a 2.9% annual drop in April.
Residential mortgage lending was down by another €352m in May, and is now down 1.8% over 12 months. Overall lending to households has fallen by 1.5% over the last year, according to the figures.