The Labour Party leader Ruari Quinn, has expressed concern for the future of the economy. He has called on the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, to adopt contingency plans to "batten down the hatches" in the event of an economic crisis.
Mr Quinn said on RTE's This Week radio programme that Ireland was an open economy which was "critically dependent" on the stability of the world economy to maintain its current export levels.
Beef exports to Russia represented about £85 million each year and this market could disappear if Russians could no longer afford to buy foreign commodities.
Stock markets, including the Irish one, had dropped in value by 20 per cent in the last month, while 40 per cent of the world's economies were either in, or moving towards, recession, he said.
The Government should also make preparations for the agreement which would follow Partnership 2000, he added. "There has to be some sort of gain-sharing or profit-sharing in the private sector if ordinary workers, who have restrained their increases in terms of salaries, are to be rewarded for the incredible performance of the economy.
"In the public sector we have to find a way of paying people better, but attaching that to productivity and output."