Ireland's service sector has continued to grow at a fast-pace. The Investec Purchasing Managers' Index of service activities reached 62.5 in January - just short of December 2007's 62.6 reading.
The index measures all service activities - any reading over 50 indicates growth.
A subindex that measures activity by new businesses was at 62.8 - the lowest level since August.
The overall growth of new orders slowed slightly after a string of strong months.
The rate of employment growth in January was the third highest level in two and a half years.
Investec Ireland's chief economist Philip O'Sullivan said: "Taken together with Monday's Manufacturing PMI report, this release shows a solid start to 2015 for a sizeable proportion of the private sector in Ireland."
The corresponding figure for the whole of the euro zone is 52.6 - its highest reading since July.
New figures also show that retail sales in the euro zone grew at the fastest pace in nearly eight years in 2014.
