Pensioners will account for a quarter of the population in the Republic by around the middle of the century, new figures predict.

The number of people aged 65 and over is expected to triple by 2041 to almost 1.4 million while the amount of octogenarians will quadruple to almost half a million.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) also claims that if the state continues to experience high immigration and fertility levels the overall population will hit five million in less than 10 years.

The figures coincide with the launch of this year’s National Pensions Week and Age Action Ireland said it shows that more people must take out private pensions.

“At the moment about half of pensioners in the Republic are dependent solely on the state pension for their income,” spokesman Eamon Timmins said.

“That’s tough, and what we do need is more people with other sources of income in years to come. There is going to be a greater need for that.”

Mr Timmins added there was also an urgent need for an adequate state pension and reiterated Age Action’s call to link the state pension with the average industrial wage.

“We’re looking for a figure of 50 per cent by 2016,” he said.

“We’re running at about 35 per cent at the moment, so we’ve a lot to do. We want it index-linked.”

Age Action is also calling for those over 65 years of age to be allowed to continue working if they wish and not be forced to take retirement.

The CSO’s Population and Labour Force Projections 2011 to 2041 reveals there will be between 1.3 and 1.4 million people aged 65 and over by 2041, compared with 460,000 in 2006.

The number of those aged 80 will quadruple from 110,000 to 440,000.

Social affairs minister Martin Cullen launched Pensions in the Workplace Day yesterday which is the first day of National Pensions Action Week 2008.

“Some one million people in the workforce will rely on a social welfare pension for their main retirement income unless action is taken,” Mr Cullen said.

“Today we are focussing on the workplace and the key role a person’s employment can play in relation to their pension future.

“A pension is a valuable asset and it is important that employees understand this and ask their employer what they are offering in this respect.”

The CSO report predicts that if high immigration and fertility levels continue the population will hit five million by 2014.

But if the numbers coming into the country fall to zero and fertility drops, the population total will reach just 4.9 million by 2041.

The report also shows the number of primary school children aged between five and 12 years of age will jump by 10 per cent over the next decade, even with falling immigration and low fertility rates.

Statistics