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Summary The fiscal challenges of accommodating Irelands aging population profile are not onerous. The technicalities in terms of expenditures, flows of savings and investment, a rebalancing public/private contribution are well established. The NPRF, for example, was established in 2001. It is not a big deal. Aging is not a disease. Is a biological process. In a society that respects life and intergenerational solidarity, it is an enormous source of social-capital. The much deeper issue relates to whether an aging population is perceived negatively – in a quasi-‘Malthusian’ model - and something to be coercively managed by the state. Or, alternatively, as the vindication of a long-established goal of medical science and social aspirations to increase life expectancy. The ‘challenge’ here is how best to avail of the greater scope for ensuring that older age cohorts continue to contribute to, and find fulfilment in, our knowledge-based economy. In terms of challenges the key issues related to the funding of social care including health, and, in this context, the most appropriate fiscal arrangements to accommodate the shift. Such ‘challenges’ are by no means difficult. The NPRF set up in 2001 demonstrates that the fiscal dimensions are well established, and, in any case are much less onerous than was the ‘austerity’ shock recent years. In the light of the ideological agenda pursued by the state in recent years, there are legitimate grounds for inferring that consideration of demographic aging will be a ‘flag of convenience’ for seeking to legislate for coercive means of controlling population trends including legislation for euthanasia. In other words, what are the reasons this is coming before the Assembly because on purely technical and financial grounds there are no compelling pressures? Conclusion An important issue, therefore, for the Assembly is whether the underlying ideology is one of coercive social control of population and family size, viewing family size as a variable to be manipulated, in a way that is shaped by the labour theory of value and the workforce requirements of Corporate Capitalism. The alternative perspective starts with the fundamental rights of individuals to determine the size of their families in the light of their own circumstances and for the state to respect and vindicate that right. Ireland’s aging profile is occurring against the backdrop of a knowledge economy (McBrierty and Kinsella), characterised by intellectual capital as a primary national resource. The opportunities to integrate an aging population within the production possibilities of the economy are enormous.