Economic success has made many Irish people selfish, impatient and arrogant, according to Minister for Social Affairs Séamus Brennan.
"This to me is something that runs against the grain of the humanity and decency that we as a nation have always prided ourselves on," he told a marriage counsellors' conference in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, yesterday.
Holding on to our humanity and decency will be one of the greatest challenges facing Irish people into the future, he warned.
"Economic, social and cultural success does not cure all ills - it comes at a price. Ireland must now face up to new pressures and fresh challenges - what you could call the problems of swift and remarkable success."
Mr Brennan told the conference, organised by Accord, the Catholic Church's marriage counselling advisory service, that future generations would look back on us as people who had a grasp on the "Holy Grail" of economic success, wealth, full employment and endless opportunity. They would judge us on how we used this prized possession.
"Somehow I doubt they will be too impressed by how many millionaires, even billionaires, we created during our time on that economic oasis. Instead, and rightly so, they will judge us on how we harnessed that unprecedented splurge of wealth to reach down and lift up those who had been left behind by our buoyant economy."
The Minister said there were many different views and attitudes on marriage, and cohabitation, births outside marriage, separation and divorce were now commonplace. This resulted in greater discontinuity and instability and made the work of an organisation like Accord more challenging. "In today's pressurised, fast-lane society, I know you are finding that couples often expect more from their marriage relationship than they would have in the past. Overall, this is a good thing. But the downside is that this may increase the risk of failure."
Mr Brennan promised an increase in funding for Accord later this year. Last year the organisation received €2.75 million of the €8.4 million allocated to marriage counselling groups nationally.
Last year over 8,000 couples availed of Accord's marriage courses in 57 centres, while a website, www.gettingmarried.ie, is attracting 10,000 hits a day.
John Farrelly of Accord said the success of the Celtic Tiger economy was placing many couples under greater strain.
"Our message would be that if we're to keep driving the economy, we have to look after the engine. What's good for the economy isn't necessarily good for families."