Ireland faces a looming "pensions timebomb", with the ratio of workers to over-65s set to more than halve by 2065 without policy reform, the Oireachtas housing committee will be warned on Tuesday. Housing supply and fertility ratesIf housing supply “rises as required” and population growth moderates, then the “imbalance” of housing supply and demand will “narrow in time”. Key to the issue of demographic change is Ireland’s declining fertility rate, which has fallen from nearly three children per woman 60 years ago to 1.6 in 2022. A fertility rate of 2.1 is considered necessary to keep a population stable. The drop in fertility rates is not unique to Ireland, but is mirrored in developed nations worldwide.

Source: Irish Examiner February 24, 2026 09:00 UTC