ESRI: Raising retirement age not enough to stimulate growth

An ageing working population has raised the prospect of having to work longer and retire later.

A new study by the ESRI and UCD has found that the working age population has been declining across the euro area since 2010.

It also found that even if unemployment and investment rates improve, we can expect GDP growth of just over 0.5% over the next decade.

Research professor at the ESRI Kieran McQuinn said that while raising the retirement age is helpful, it does not go far enough.

"(Raising the age) will have a positive impact on growth going forward, but it's not likely to have a seismic effect.. so we look at other scenarios to stimulate growth.

"That's how we come up with the need for higher rates of net immigration into the Euro area."