He told the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants that growth was based on "parasitical" elements, such as construction and consumer spending, rather than "self-sustaining" export sales, as it was before 2000.

Quinn, founder of the Superquinn chain, said the growth situation was "ominous and unsustainable. . . It is highly misleading to talk about overall growth figures as being comparable when the underlying components of those figures are shifting".

Quinn said the failure to understand the shaky basis for Ireland's growth put the country at risk of becoming "victims of change that we do not understand and cannot control".