Future-proofing society means preparing not for a world of many more people, but for one where there may soon be far fewer.
For decades, underestimates of population growth have generated infrastructure deficits and unforeseen costs. The Department of Finance wants to grasp that nettle.
What Ireland needs over the next three decades is the exact opposite of what it has had for the last one: a system that can deliver homes at huge scale, and that can adapt as conditions change.
New data gives empirical validity – if it were needed – to the political anger felt by Ireland’s younger cohorts. Ireland has gone from on a par with Germany to having more than twice as many adults living with their parents in just a decade.
As the population increases, the urban/rural mix will become more complex. Policymakers can’t have a static view of rural Ireland in particular. The new strategies show they get the complexity, but as always, the challenge is in implementation.
If Ireland wants to get over the looming transition to an older population, it should look at how it embraces automation technologies such as robotics and AI.
Official Ireland's view is that the country will grow slowly. In reality, as the census shows, Ireland is one of the fastest-growing countries in Europe. This failure to plan for growth has had catastrophic consequences for Irish infrastructure – not least its housing.
The fundamental economics of a country like Ireland is a lot like gravity. You can ignore it for a while, but eventually, it will get you.
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