Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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2549. To ask the Minister for Health his views on Ireland’s success in reaching a life expectancy of 83 years; what she expects to be the life expectancy for men and women in 2030, 2040 and 2050; the factors behind these statistics; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40807/25]

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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That Ireland’s life-expectancy at birth has reached 82.9 years—above the average of 81.4 years for EU member states—is an achievement to be celebrated. It bears testimony to the rise in living standards and to improvements in our health and social care services in recent decades.

CSO data indicates that mortality rates for males and females up to the age of 90 will improve at 2.5% per annum in the short-term to 2047 and that there will be a long-term rate of improvement of 1.5% per annum, with the short-term rate declining linearly over a 25-year period to the long-term rate. These assumptions will result in gains in life-expectancy from 80.2 years in 2022 to 86.2 years in 2057 for males, and from 83.9 years in 2022 to 89.1 years in 2057 for females.

The Government is strongly committed to supporting healthy and positive ageing across the life-course. The Healthy Ireland initiative, which is managed by my Department, aims to enable everyone living in Ireland to enjoy better physical and mental health and to live longer, healthier lives. This aim is being achieved through the implementation of a range of policies and strategies including the National Physical Activity Framework 2024–2040, the National Physical Activity Action Plan 2024–2029; the National Sexual Health Strategy 2025–2035, Pathways to Wellbeing: National Mental Health Promotion Plan 2024–2028, A Healthy Weight for Ireland: Obesity Policy and Action Plan 2016–2025, and Tobacco Free Ireland 2013–2025. Work on developing a successor to the Healthy Ireland Framework 2013–2025 is in train.

Recognising the imperative to address the multi-sectoral factors which impact on health (such as housing, education, infrastructure, recreational facilities and the built and natural environments), the Healthy Ireland Fund provides resources for cross-sectoral initiatives such as the Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme, which supports long-term health and wellbeing improvement in Ireland’s most disadvantaged communities; and the Healthy Cities and Counties initiative, which is run across Ireland’s 31 local authorities with the oversight of a National Coordinator.

More broadly, exchequer funding of older persons’ NGOs and Age Friendly Ireland at local government level; the mainstreaming of ageing in policy development and implementation across Government departments; and indeed my role as Minister of State for Older People and Housing; reflect the Government’s commitment to ensuring our preparedness for population-ageing.

In the health domain, the commitment under Sláintecare to deliver timely, high-quality, person-centred, integrated care at the lowest level of complexity, and to expand primary and community care to support this, is enabling older people to continue to live independently for as long as possible. This autonomous and active ageing is being supported by the reorientation of the model of care into the community through the Enhanced Community Care programme, the on-going development of the statutory home-support scheme; and the diversification of housing options for older people, amongst other initiatives. That in 2019 Ireland became the first country to be formally designated as ‘age-friendly’ by the World Health Organization bears testimony to our success in supporting positive ageing across the life-course.

However, despite this good progress, the Government recognises that there remain significant challenges, which the COVID-19 pandemic set in relief and which will be exacerbated as our population ages. It is within this context that, in fulfilment of the commitment in the Programme for Government (2020), the Government established an independent Commission on Care for Older People in 2024. The Commission, which is supported by a secretariat from my Department, is chaired by Professor Alan Barrett (Economic and Social Research Institute) and is comprised of independent experts.

The Commission is charged with examining the provision of health and social care services and supports for older people and with making recommendations to the Government for their strategic development. Subsequently a cross-departmental group will be established under the auspices of the Commission to consider whether the supports for positive ageing across the life-course are fit-for-purpose and to develop a costed implementation plan for options to optimise these supports.

The work of the Commission is being advanced through three modules which will run consecutively. The Commission is currently preparing its module 1 report for my consideration. Detailed information on work of the Commission is available on the Government of Ireland’s website at www.gov.ie/commissiononcare.