The birth rate in Ireland fell from 75,000 in 2010 to 55,000 in 2023. We now have the lowest birth rate ever. This low birth rate has clear negative impacts on sustaining our economy and public services. It will lead to a lower tax intake and inevitable cuts to our welfare state. Will the Government look at strategies to help increase the birth rate? This could be done by financially supporting people who want to have children. Additionally, we need to look at more imaginative strategies and not just financial ones. This is a really difficult challenge, as all countries in the world are experiencing, it but we must start having this conversation and face up to this reality, which is already well underway.

There is a broad range of factors. Ireland is late to the phenomenon described by the Deputy in many respects because we would have had the highest birth rate across Europe, and still do, is my understanding, or we have one of the highest. Nonetheless, the Deputy's point merits broader reflection in terms of the society we organise, how society is organised and supported, and challenges in terms of housing. They are all interrelated, so there is no one particular solution or idea that could change that trend. These are long-standing trends. The Deputy is right to raise the issue for reflection and for people to think about and I have no doubt that it could be a matter of discussion for some Oireachtas committee.