Irish exporters and manufacturers have been forced to cut jobs over the last four years in the face of growing international competition, Fine Gael has declared.
Speaking in Manchester, Fine Gael's deputy leader, Mr Richard Bruton, said 20,000 jobs were shed by exporters and manufacturers between 2000 and 2003.
However, jobs in construction, retailing, and so on, which are dependent on local demand, grew by nearly 100,000.
"The environment has now changed dramatically. There is no longer the same plentiful source of new labour in Ireland. Our exports are flagging," said Mr Bruton, Fine Gael's finance spokesman.
Job creation between 2000/2003 "has almost equalled" the 1994/97 record: "However, the pace of job losses has more than doubled. The existing strategy is running hard to stand still," he told the Encounter conference.
"Our past successes have been built on a very strong export-trading sector generating strong employment growth which has filtered out to the rest of the economy.
"This is no longer the pattern," said Mr Bruton, who accused the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, of "dangerous complacency and stagnation".
In 1994/97, exporters created 60,000 jobs in the Republic, "which were a critical wedge underpinning employment growth" in companies serving the local market.
However, State job numbers are now increasing at "four times the pace" enjoyed during the Rainbow's term in office "and few of these are frontline staff like nurses", he said.
"Elements of the growing tax burden have caused problems for business. The stealth taxes, rising local rates and utility rates have had a direct impact."
Exporting firms have seen their factory gate prices fall by 14.8 per cent since May 2002, though their utility bills have gone up by 26 per cent.
"Ireland cannot insulate itself from the tough challenges which we face in our external markets. We face new competitive challengers all the time. Relocation to lower-cost economies is now a fact of life. It is spreading into higher-level activities. Our low corporation tax regime is now being matched by new competitors."
Export growth is coming from foreign-owned firms: "Indigenous companies have shown remarkably poor growth even in the boom years," he warned.
State employees got €1.3 billion in extra pay under benchmarking yet the Government failed to win greater efficiencies from them.
New regulators, such as the one now in control of electricity, have been "spawned" in great numbers and are now working "in direct conflict" with the Competition Authority.
"It is all too easy for governments to use captive customers of public monopolies as a source of revenue. These monopolies then become a surrogate tax collector," Mr Bruton said last night.
