Irish Examiner view: Urgent need to address Ireland's population issues

CSO figures make clear that the Government has urgent problems to tackle

In 2022, the population eclipsed 5m for the first time since the 1851 census and it has not stopped growing since. File picture: Denis Minihane

The population of this country increased by 66,900 in the year to the end of April, meaning 5,525,600 people now live here.

In 2022, the population eclipsed 5m for the first time since the 1851 census and it has not stopped growing since.

These CSO figures illustrate not only the economic wellbeing of the State, but also that of its inhabitants. What they do not highlight is the fact that the population has accelerated past the ability of our national infrastructure to cope, or that we, as a nation, are ageing faster than most of our European neighbours, largely as a result of a falling birth rate.

Worryingly, during the same timeframe, the number of people aged under 14 fell to under 1m (992,400) for the first time since 2014. As well as that, since 2010, the number of births has dropped by some 27%.

That means that our national age profile has been shifting — and much faster than expected. In some respects, this reflects a common misconception — similar to what is seen in attitudes towards climate change — that the problems caused by an ageing population and a plummeting birth rate are only going to affect us at some undetermined point in the future.

That is sadly not the case; the future is now. While the increasing number of older people has been well flagged, fertility rates have fallen much more quickly than was ever anticipated.

These issues bring a number of matters sharply into focus — pensions, healthcare, and housing primary amongst them. Funding state pensions, particularly at a time when there is an obvious cohort of people who will still be renting, or whose mortgages will not have been paid off by the time they reach pension age, is going to be tricky.

The Government has already established two sovereign wealth funds, but whether these will be able to cope with demand is questionable — especially if the retirement age remains at 65.

Our falling birth rate is another issue, especially when it comes to balancing out an ageing population. Perhaps the Government should look at the example of Singapore, where they recently incentivised having children to the tune of €47,000 per newborn.

But cash alone will not solve the problem; more family-friendly policies will also have to be adopted.

Alongside the fact that our national infrastructure is groaning at the seams because of historical underinvestment, these figures make clear that the Government has urgent problems to tackle. And at this moment, there does not appear to be anyone in the Cabinet motivated to spur decisive action.

Bleak future for our planet

With investigation into the recent devastating flash flood in Nepal determining it was triggered by a glacial lake outburst or a glacier collapse, experts are worried the same could occur again in the region or in Europe.

Europe was recently revealed as among the fastest-warming continents on the planet, driven by human-made climate change. This, in turn, means that retreating glaciers and thawing permafrost are destabilising high mountain regions such as the Alps.

Last week’s disaster in Nepal, where a torrent of water, mud, and debris surged some 170 km through southwest Tibet and into central Nepal, costing a huge number of lives, could easily be replicated in any number of countries in Europe with Alpine regions.

In 2025, the Swiss village of Blatten had to be evacuated after a rock and glacier collapse occurred.

In our modern world, these events are becoming more and more commonplace. In Ireland last week, we saw the effects of flash flooding in Killarney, and residents of places such as Enniscorthy and Midleton do not need reminding of what happened them in recent times.

Sadly, such events are now commonplace here and across the globe.

This is the new reality facing us and the world.

Eyes on Germany

As Iceland yesterday rejected a move to begin negotiations to join the European Union, the inward focus of the 27 members this week turns to a state election within Germany which could see the far-right AfD party gaining control of the Saxony-Anhalt state legislature.

Were it to do so, the result would shatter post-war German democratic norms. Thus, the result will be carefully monitored across the EU and especially in those countries witnessing a surge in support for right-wing or populist parties.

Saxony-Anhalt lies in what used to be East Germany, with a population of 2.2m. It has one of the weakest economies of the 16 federal states in Germany and its foreign national population — some 8% of the total — is the third lowest anywhere in the country.

But here, as in other parts of Germany, migration has become an effective vote-getting issue for the AfD and current polling suggest a support level of between 41-43% among the state’s voters.

It is running a campaign based more on feelings than facts and is plying voters with an emotional thread that suggests they were the real losers as a result of German unification. The party has gained real political muscle by tapping into the resulting humiliation and anger.

Its narrative also positions the AfD as the defenders of local pride in the face of western German arrogance and the heartlessness of Berlin’s political elites.

The party is driving a wave of nostalgia for past, better times, which has been shot through with its own radicalised and emotionalised online rhetoric and framing, including policies of “remigration”.

If it gains power, it has promised a “180-degree about turn” in migration policy and said it would outlaw “culturally alien” migration, without bothering to explain fully what this would mean in practice.

Other parties have promised not to co-operate with the party, but the AfD might not need any of them if it secures enough of a majority. That possibility is striking fear into many across the country.

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