The Economic and Social Research Institute has revised down its growth forecast for this year from 6% at the start of the Summer to 5.7% now - mainly as a result of higher oil prices.
But 5.7% economic growth is still a good deal stronger than the official figures that have been published recently by the Central Statistics Office. The CSO figures show the economy is only growing at a rate of 3.1%.
Dr Alan Barrett of the ESRI says that to accept that our economy has grown by just 3% so far this year, while employment has grown by more than 5% - as reported by the CSO - would imply a very, very severe drop in productivity growth in the Irish economy. He says it would be extraordinary if a drop of that nature had occurred.
Mr Barrett says the Institute expects the Central Statistics Office to revise its economic growth figures upwards later this year.
The latest ESRI Quarterly report notes that employment is up by 93,000 over the past year and that income tax receipts are up 9%. In addition, it points to a record expansion of almost 5% in the Irish labour force. All of these factors, the report says, suggests that the economy is growing more strongly than the CSO figures report.
Dr Barrett says that the economy is performing extremely well, and predicts that it will grow by 5% next year. He says there are no major clouds on the horizon and no question of a housing market crash.
Today's report from the economic think-tank also says that interest rates will not rise for at least another year and it forecasts another 50,000 new jobs being created next year.
The ESRI says consumer spending will remain buoyant this year with an increase of 5.5%. This will be boosted marginally to 5.8% next year thanks to a pick-up in spending resulting from the ending of the SSIA savings scheme.
However, the ESRI expects the main impact from the SSIA scheme will occur in 2007. This, it says, is because the majority of savers entered the scheme late, and those who entered late, are more likely to spend the money than those who entered early.
The report says, however, that the Institute is concerned about the extent to which jobs growth here has been concentrated in the construction sector. One third of the net new jobs created here over the past five years have been in the building industry.
The ESRI warns that the Government needs to be mindful of possible training and education needs in the event of a downturn in construction.
