Let your voice be heard on positive ageing

EACH week in Ireland, almost 1,000 people celebrate their 65th birthday, figures from the CSO’s Census 2022 show. The figure has risen steadily in recent years and is a quarter higher than the figure from the 2011 Census.

The CSO’s population estimate update for 2023 shows that there are now 806,300 people aged 65 and over in Ireland — an increase of 153,900 people or 23.6% since 2017.

In the space of just six years, the number of senior citizens in our country has increased by 22%. In addition, as a population, we are growing older with the average age now at 38.8 years, up from 36.1 years just over a decade ago.

These increases are being experienced worldwide. Since 2018, for example, there are more people aged 65 and over on the planet than those aged five and under.

The UN has declared that population ageing is a defining global trend of our time. 

Moreover, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres recently noted that population ageing is a major success story of our time too.

Mr Guterres is right — a generation ago life expectancy in Ireland was under 75 years and the retirement age was 70. Post retirement years were expected to be short. By contrast life expectancy is now close to 85 years and growing. This fact presents us with both challenges and opportunities.

The demographic change means that the ratio of working-age people to older, retired people will move from 1:4 to 1:2 within the next generation. This has profound implications for how we fund vital services, including healthcare and pensions.

The change, however, also presents us with a wonderful opportunity for older people as well as for our country. With imagination and greater flexibility, older persons could continue to work if they so wished or contribute in new ways. A fruitful retirement, properly planned, can be transformative for overall quality of life. In addition, our country would be all the better for the experience, education and wisdom.

The approach, however, built on positive ageing, will not happen by accident and requires considered and thoughtful policies from government, including local government and State agencies.

The Fine Gael Policy Lab, is an initiative with an innovative way of developing policy through listening to a broad range of voices particularly from citizens with direct experience and those delivering services, are the heart of developing solutions. 

The Policy Lab is exploring this area and is seeking your help. 

We’ve launched a survey to get your views and help shape policies that are based on people’s lived experience. This initial survey will create a platform to begin a deeper dive into issues that will lead to new approaches being proposed.

We’re seeking to help answer questions such as how do we best empower older people to navigate the profound changes that retirement can bring?

How do we make the world of work more flexible so that an older person can continue to contribute and impart their knowledge and experience to young colleagues?

How do we shape the pension system so that it’s fair and sustainable?

How do we ensure the availability of accommodation that’s suited to every life stage?

In which ways can we better harness technologies, such as those that make living independently at home easier?

And, perhaps most importantly, how do we overcome the problem of ageism and move away from the traditional negative stereotypes of older people?

• To learn more about the Fine Gael Policy Lab survey, visit: ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/FG_Policy_Lab_Positive_Ageing_Survey
• Colm Burke is TD for Cork North Central, and Fine Gael Spokesperson on Health.