Workers may have to foot €5 billion bill over ageing population profile

IRELAND’S working population could be facing a tax bill of €5 billion a year to 2050 to cope with our ageing population. The alternative is to allow people to work beyond 65.

Alternatively taxes will have to rise or spending will have to be curtailed as the ratio of people at work to those of pensionable age changes radically up to the year 2050.

The problem is our population is ageing faster than previously thought. That has serious financial implications for the State in terms of higher taxes.