The wealth created by the Celtic Tiger is in danger of creating a two-tiered society that carries great risk for the State's development, the chief financial officer of Jefferson Smurfit warned yesterday.

At a Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants lunch, Mr Gary McGann said "the most vital challenge" society faced was to embrace all of its sectors, perhaps though tapping into the goodwill of politicians and business people.

"Social partnership has served us well, but we may need to bring it to another level now," he said. Mr McGann, a former chief executive of Aer Lingus, said the development of a two-tiered society was more serious in the Republic, where extremes of wealth and poverty would be more readily visible than in a larger state.

People used "the unemployable" as a phrase, he said, but by whose standards were they unemployable? The unemployed should have recourse to the education system, but on their terms.

Mr McGann also called for a speedy process for investigating corruption. While the State had to rid itself of "any pocket of cronyism", it should not threaten the spirit of enterprise.

"Let us root out any corruption, but let us do it quickly and efficiently. It must be allowed to bottom out. It must not go on forever," he said.

He added that a successful outcome to the Northern peace process had to be factored into planning for economic growth. The State would have to take economic risks to assist the North in its development. The advent of cross-border bodies and the development of an economy of more than five million people would challenge the Republic in unpredictable ways.