More babies or migrants? Government must decide for future of Irish economy

The Irish government must decide whether it will encourage more people to have babies or allow more migrants to enter the country. 

Those were the options presented to the government by the National Economic and Social Council after warning that Irish people are not having enough children to fund public services in the future. 

Questions have been raised about how the Irish economy will function if there are so few taxpayers in the future, according to an article by Newstalk.

READ NEXT: Met Éireann issue status yellow weather warnings as ice and snow expected over the weekend

A recent report by the National Economic and Social Council found that births in the country peaked in 2010, with 77,000 children that year.

By 2024, that number had dropped to just 54,000, leaving the government wondering what to do to tackle this issue.

Jack Horgan-Jones, a journalist with the Irish Times, told Newstalk that a call for more migration will settle some TDs, especially considering they have been making "political capital" on migration issues in recent months.

"That's one of those things where you're going to have a policy imperative, something to address and right size the demographic shape of the State going forward, coming into conflict potentially with the prevailing politics of the moment, which is rather more sour on migration and immigration than it has been," he said.

Another person who featured on the show suggested that Ireland stop forcing people to retire once they reach their 60s as people are living longer and healthier lives now.