Most victims of workplace bullying quit their jobs
And one in 30 of the adult population is a serial bully in a Celtic Tiger economy where power is pursued at any cost.
Clinical psychologist with the Health Service Executive, Dr Mark Harrold, said the country's economic prosperity had fuelled a type of greed that gave a licence to a variety of nefarious workplace practices.
There was a "new Ireland" executive culture where people were regarded as disposable and power was pursued at whatever cost, he said at a seminar on workplace bullying in Dublin.
Rising housing costs had created a new type of financial slavery because people had such crippling mortgages. "This has turned otherwise decent people into mindless corporate pawns," he said.
"It is that type of chaotic, competitive environment that makes the activities of the workplace bully particularly viable," he said.
It is thought bullying is costing Irish business at least €3 billion a year with 70% of victims leaving their jobs as a result.
Dr Harrold also claimed that the legal system was slow to recognise how bullies worked the system against those who took a moral stance against them.
He said the "Holy Grail" of maximising shareholder value put up as the reason by Irish Ferries as to why they treat people in the manner they did was just an example of how we seemed to give licence to administrators to engage in all kinds of unethical employment practices.
Dr Harrold also referred to the unwillingness of many union representatives to support individuals who are encountering workplace bullying.
He said his views had been formed after listening to hundreds of people and reading about workplace bullying, now an international phenomenon.
"I think the fall in union membership is evidence of the disillusionment encountered by thousands of people who previously would have relied on the unions for support when bullies went to work," he said.
He believed a new framework was needed to address bullying, a "contemporary cancer" that had long-term consequences for both our economic and psychological wellbeing.
Senator Mary Henry, who also addressed the conference, claimed there was widespread bullying in the health service and in universities.
