Ireland had the fastest-ageing population in western Europe and over the next 20 years faced significant demographic changes which would affect everything from the provision of social services to the design of buildings and transport.
According to a Southern Health Board consultant geriatrician, Dr Cillian Twomey, improvements in medicine meant people were living longer, though social changes such as smaller family size meant there would be fewer extended families and kin to look after the elderly.
Speaking in Cork where some 700 delegates are attending the British Geriatrics Society, Dr Twomey said between 2015 and 2020 Ireland would have 28 per cent more people over the age of 85, 20 per cent more over the age of 75 and 18 per cent more over the age of 65.
Dr Twomey, who gave the welcoming address to the delegates at UCC yesterday, said major challenges were facing the Government and Irish society regarding not just the provision of medical services, but also of support services for the elderly.
The conference, which runs until tomorrow, will hear papers on radical new treatments for heart disease, arthritis and stroke, as well as papers on the provision of community-based social services.