Boosting productivity is key to sustaining Ireland's economic growth, according to a new report.
The study - by economist Paul Tansey on behalf of Microsoft Ireland - identifies labour force growth and productivity growth as "the primary drivers" for economic success in the future.
But it says that with the pace of labour force growth expected to decline significantly there is a need to increase the focus on productivity.
Mr Tansey warns employment growth has been fastest where productivity growth has been slowest.
"Where this is most obvious is in the services sector — the sector where 1.2 million of Ireland's 1.9 million workforce is employed."
The report says the economic boom of the 1990s was the result of a number of internal and external factors that cannot be replicated.
Ireland has now now become an expensive country in absolute price terms with high business and wage costs. The report also said the strength of the euro was undermining competitiveness.
The report recommends increasing productivity growth through investment in physical capital, investment in human capital, and through education and training.
It concludes that "the clearest route to higher living standards" in the future is to quicken productivity growth in the years ahead.