Earlier this month Ireland’s life sciences community gathered for the National Health Summit, a key fixture on the annual health calendar. In its 22nd year, the event brought together industry experts, policymakers and clinicians to discuss the most pressing challenges facing the healthcare system in Ireland.
The agenda included a diverse range of topics from the value of clinical trials to combatting misinformation. Nonetheless, two clear themes emerged from the conversation.
Ireland’s population is ageing rapidly, and demand is rising faster than the health system can expand. Meanwhile, digitalisation brings forth a new era of healthcare for the nation.
Reframing these debates as a single issue, it raises the question of how do we make a our health system fit for a country that will live longer? The choices made about digital health, data governance and healthcare in the community will determine whether longer lives are healthier lives.
The technology is the easy part
Ireland is a late adopter of digital health. European Commission figures reveal that in 2022, Ireland was given an eHealth maturity of 0%.1 This rose to 11% in 2023 but remained the lowest score in the EU compared with an average of 79%.2
This has prompted criticism from the medical community, politicians and the public, but speakers at the Summit reframed late adoption as an opportunity to design better system.
Ireland has ramped up the development of its digital health infrastructure in recent years, with the launch of HSE App, the National Shared Care Record and electronic health records (EHRs) in maternity hospitals. At the beginning of February, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill shared a very welcome announcement that she had received Government approval for the Health Service Executive (HSE) to begin the procurement phase for the National Electronic Health Record.3
Irish decision-makers don’t need to reinvent the wheel, rather they can learn from their neighbours and ensure that digital health infrastructure is a solution to the challenges in the Irish healthcare system, rather than another problem to overcome.
That strategic advantage matters because an ageing population raises complexity that legacy, siloed systems struggle to manage.
Ireland’s ageing population
In 2050, a quarter of Ireland’s population will be over 65.4 Policymakers, healthcare professionals and advocates alike have determined that Ireland is not ready for this shift.
Ireland’s healthcare system faces significant unresolved problems with its current population, let alone one that lives significantly longer. While people over 65 are not a homogenous group, a population that lives longer inevitably will lead to pressure on the health system.
For example, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Association’s Trolley Watch, hospitals in Ireland are currently operating at 100% capacity, much higher than the 85% occupancy rate, with 700 people waiting on trolleys.5 Ireland faced a particularly difficult flu season in 2025/26 that disproportionately affected the over 65s population, resulting in over 2400 hospitalisations so far.6
How can the Irish policymakers accommodate an older population in a system already bursting at the seams?
From a human-rights perspective, access to public services, housing and care for an older population is a major concern. Furthermore, the introduction of digital health brings with it the risk of digital exclusion for older people, some people with disabilities and people with low digital skills.7
It is incumbent on policymakers to explore concerns around Ireland’s ageing population through a holistic lens, rather than viewing it as a purely financial challenge. The Irish government has an opportunity, however, to utilise digital health to prepare for this forthcoming demographic change.
Where digital health can make the biggest difference
The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), a study of over 8500 people in Ireland aged 50+ has demonstrated the value of population-based health data. Ireland’s electronic health record will create opportunities for preventative public health measures that have never been seen before.
As this year’s flu data shows, older people in Ireland can face greater health risk. This, however, is not inevitable. Older people can live longer, healthier lives with the correct preventative care such as immunisations, screening programmes and public health intervention.
For example, the most recent TILDA research shows significant gaps in the diagnosis and management of high blood pressure among people aged 50+ in Ireland. The prevalence of hypertension increased from 63% to 71% over 12 years among study participants.8 TILDA recommends people in this age group to get their blood pressure checked regularly, preventing future serious illnesses and hospitalisation.
Health data is being used effectively to recommend preventative health measures already, and the Irish healthcare system has an opportunity to scale this up massively with its new electronic health record to protect its future older population.
What we can take away from this
Ireland’s population is ageing and its healthcare system is becoming digital. Soon this will become a reality, rather than a hypothetical scenario discussed at conference panels with some reservation.
Living for longer is ultimately a success story for Ireland and its delayed adoption of digitalisation places its health system in a strong position to ensure high-quality longer lives.
Fundamentally, digital health facilitates the Irish government’s Sláintecare goal of shifting care to the community, with records being shared across different care settings. Continuity in health records across a person’s lifetime is paramount to ensuring healthy living and patient safety across the healthcare system.
Despite very real concerns around the future of the Irish healthcare system, policymakers can leverage digital health to prepare for the demographic realities it will face in years to come.
