Navigate Ireland’s Demographic Transformation With Confidence
Ireland stands at the threshold of unprecedented demographic change. By 2040, our population aged 65 and over will nearly double. The workforce is ageing. Healthcare demand is intensifying. Communities are transforming. In this context, strategic age planning and organisational adaptation aren’t optional—they’re essential for survival and success.
At Críonna Health, we specialise in helping Irish organisations identify and address the opportunities and challenges presented by an ageing population and the shifting workforce demographic. Our consulting services provide the starting point for navigating demographic complexity—offering valuable guidance, evidence-based expertise, and practical strategies tailored to Irish realities.
We partner with organisations across public, private, and voluntary sectors to prepare them for a future marked by greater age diversity and shifting demographics. Our consultancy ensures that your organisation is well-equipped to embrace change and turn demographic pressure into competitive advantage.
[Request a Consultation →]Strategic Age Planning
See Clearly. Plan Effectively. Act Decisively.
The implications of an ageing population are far-reaching yet often overlooked until they become urgent. Workforce shortages emerge. Critical knowledge walks out the door. Service pressures intensify. Customer needs shift. By then, reactive responses are costly and disruptive.
Strategic age planning takes a different approach. We help organisations understand their specific exposure to demographic change, develop proactive strategies, and implement initiatives that deliver measurable results—before crisis forces their hand.
Our Strategic Planning Services Include:
Demographic Risk Assessment
We analyse your organisation’s exposure to ageing-related risks across workforce, operations, and markets. Where are your vulnerabilities? Which departments face imminent knowledge loss? Which services will face increased demand? Our assessments provide clear visibility.
Strategy Development
Building on assessment insights, we work with your leadership to develop comprehensive age strategies aligned with organisational objectives. These aren’t generic frameworks—they’re practical roadmaps tailored to your specific context, resources, and constraints.
Implementation Support
Strategy without implementation is wishful thinking. We support the execution of age-related initiatives, providing project management, change management, and practical guidance as you move from plan to action.
Progress Monitoring
Demographics change over time, and so should your strategies. We help organisations establish metrics, track progress, and adapt approaches based on evolving circumstances and lessons learned.
[Talk to Our Strategy Team →]Workforce Longevity
Your Experienced Employees Are an Asset. Manage Them as One.
The Irish workforce is transforming. By 2031, over 35% of workers will be aged 55 or over—the highest proportion in history. This shift creates both challenges and opportunities that organisations must actively manage.
The Challenge: The departure of experienced employees into retirement threatens critical knowledge loss. Decades of institutional understanding, client relationships, and practical expertise walk out the door when seasoned workers retire. Meanwhile, fewer young people are entering the workforce, creating talent scarcity that makes replacing departed workers increasingly difficult.
The Opportunity: Older workers bring capabilities that organisations desperately need—experience, judgement, professional networks, and institutional knowledge. Organisations that learn to attract, retain, and engage this demographic will have access to talent that competitors miss.
Our Workforce Longevity Services Include:
Ageing Workforce Analytics
Most organisations lack visibility into their workforce demographics and the implications for future operations. We provide analytical frameworks and tools to understand your workforce age profile, identify risk areas, and inform strategic decisions. What percentage of your workforce will reach retirement eligibility in the next five years? Which roles are most at risk? Our analytics answer these questions.
Age-Inclusive Policy Design
From recruitment to retirement, organisational policies often inadvertently disadvantage older workers. We review existing policies and help design age-inclusive approaches that comply with employment equality legislation while attracting and retaining experienced talent.
Phased Retirement Programmes
The cliff-edge retirement—working full-time on Friday, fully retired on Monday—serves neither employer nor employee well. We help organisations design phased retirement options that allow experienced workers to transition gradually, transferring knowledge and maintaining contribution while preparing for life after work.
Knowledge Transfer Systems
When experienced workers leave, their knowledge shouldn’t leave with them. We help organisations develop systematic approaches to capturing and transferring critical knowledge, from formal documentation processes to mentoring programmes and communities of practice.
Age-Friendly Workplace Culture
Culture eats strategy for breakfast, as the saying goes. We help organisations build cultures where age diversity is genuinely valued, ageism is actively countered, and workers of all generations can thrive together.
[Explore Workforce Solutions →]Age-Friendly Communities
Building Places Where Everyone Can Flourish
Ireland has made significant commitments to the WHO Age-Friendly Cities and Communities framework. Every local authority has an Age Friendly Strategy. The Age Friendly Ireland Shared Service Office provides national coordination. Older People’s Councils give voice to the concerns and priorities of older adults.
But turning commitment into reality requires sustained practical action across multiple domains—housing, transport, public spaces, social participation, civic engagement, communication, health services, and employment. Many local authorities struggle to move from strategy document to implemented change.
Críonna Health supports local authorities, community organisations, and other stakeholders to make age-friendly communities a lived reality rather than an aspirational document.
Our Age-Friendly Community Services Include:
Age-Friendly Assessment
We assess current age-friendliness against WHO frameworks and Age Friendly Ireland standards. Where does your community excel? Where are the gaps? Our assessments provide clear baselines and identify priority areas for action.
Older Adult Engagement
Meaningful participation by older adults is foundational to genuine age-friendliness. We design and facilitate engagement processes that go beyond token consultation to authentic involvement in planning and decision-making.
Strategy Development
For local authorities developing new Age Friendly Strategies or refreshing existing ones, we provide research, facilitation, and drafting support. Our strategies are practical, achievable, and aligned with resources available.
Action Planning & Implementation
Strategy documents too often gather dust. We help translate strategies into concrete action plans with clear responsibilities, timelines, and accountability mechanisms. We provide implementation support to maintain momentum and overcome obstacles.
Impact Measurement
Demonstrating progress matters—for accountability, for motivation, and for learning. We develop monitoring and evaluation frameworks aligned with national Age Friendly indicators, helping communities track and communicate their achievements.
Digital Infrastructure
Technology can transform how communities serve older adults—when designed appropriately. We help communities implement digital solutions for information sharing, service access, social connection, and community participation, with accessibility and inclusion at the core.
[Learn About Age-Friendly Communities →]Healthy Ageing Strategy
Align With National and International Frameworks
Ireland operates within a complex policy landscape affecting healthy ageing. Sláintecare drives fundamental healthcare reform. Healthy Ireland provides the overarching framework for population health. The Positive Ageing Strategy sets national priorities. Ireland’s commitments to the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing create international obligations.
Organisations need to understand this landscape and align their own strategies accordingly—both to meet obligations and to position for funding and partnership opportunities.
Our Healthy Ageing Strategy Services Include:
Policy Landscape Navigation
We help organisations understand the current policy environment and its implications. Which policies affect your sector? What obligations do they create? What opportunities do they open? Our analysis provides clarity in a complex landscape.
Sláintecare Alignment
Ireland’s ten-year health reform programme has profound implications for how services for older adults are delivered. Enhanced Community Care, integrated care, and the new Regional Health Areas all affect planning and delivery. We help organisations understand and adapt to Sláintecare’s direction.
Strategy Alignment
We review existing organisational strategies and help align them with national frameworks—ensuring consistency, identifying gaps, and positioning for funding that prioritises healthy ageing.
ESG & Social Impact Positioning
Organisations increasingly must demonstrate social impact. The treatment of older workers, contribution to age-friendly communities, and support for healthy ageing all connect to ESG frameworks and corporate social responsibility. We help organisations articulate and evidence their positive contribution.
Funding & Partnership Identification
Significant resources are available for age-related initiatives—from EU programmes to national schemes to philanthropic sources. We help organisations identify relevant opportunities and strengthen proposals.
[Talk to Our Policy Team →]Retirement Preparation
Supporting Life’s Most Significant Transition
Research consistently shows that approximately 95% of employees approaching retirement lack comprehensive non-financial preparation. Financial planning dominates the conversation, yet retirement involves profound changes across every dimension of life—identity, purpose, relationships, daily structure, health management, and more.
Employees who prepare well for retirement experience better outcomes: lower anxiety, maintained wellbeing, sustained sense of purpose. Organisations that support this preparation benefit too: smoother knowledge transfer, maintained engagement through final working years, positive employer brand, and alumni goodwill.
Our Retirement Preparation Services Include:
Retirement Programme Design
We help organisations design comprehensive retirement preparation programmes that address financial and non-financial dimensions. These programmes can be delivered in-house, through our platform, or in combination.
Workshop Facilitation
Our experienced facilitators deliver retirement preparation workshops covering the key dimensions of successful transition: purpose and identity, relationships and social connection, health and wellbeing, daily structure and time use, finance and planning.
One-to-One Support
For executives and senior professionals, we provide individual retirement coaching that addresses the specific circumstances and concerns of the person.
Peer Mentoring Programmes
Learning from those who’ve successfully navigated retirement can be transformative. We help organisations establish peer mentoring connections between recent retirees and those approaching transition.
Digital Platform Access
Our Críonna Workplace platform includes comprehensive retirement preparation resources—assessments, learning content, planning tools, and community features. Organisations can provide platform access as part of their employee offering.
[Explore Retirement Solutions →]Sector Expertise
We Know Your Context
Críonna Health consultants bring sector-specific expertise that ensures our advice reflects your particular circumstances:
HSE and Healthcare Providers
We understand the complexities of healthcare delivery in Ireland—from acute hospitals to community services, from CHOs to the emerging Regional Health Areas. We help healthcare organisations plan services for demographic change, improve pathways for older adults, and manage workforce longevity.
Local Authorities
We work with councils and local development organisations across Ireland on Age Friendly implementation, community services, planning, and economic development. We understand the structures, funding mechanisms, and political realities.
Employers Across Sectors
From financial services to manufacturing, from technology to retail, we help employers manage workforce ageing, develop retirement programmes, and build age-inclusive cultures. Our approaches adapt to your sector’s specific dynamics.
Government Departments and Agencies
We support policy development, programme design, and evaluation frameworks for public bodies with responsibilities touching healthy ageing.
Voluntary and Community Organisations
We understand the distinct dynamics of the voluntary sector and help organisations serving older adults strengthen their strategies and operations.
Our Consulting Approach
Partnership, Not Prescription
We don’t believe in consultants who deliver reports and disappear. Our approach is collaborative: we work alongside your team, transfer knowledge as we go, and ensure you have the capability to sustain progress after our engagement ends.
We Listen First
Every organisation’s situation is unique. We start by understanding your context, your constraints, your culture, and your aspirations—before proposing solutions.
We Bring Evidence
Our recommendations are grounded in research and proven practice, not assumptions or generic frameworks. We combine international evidence with deep understanding of Irish realities.
We Focus on Implementation
The best strategy is worthless if not implemented. We design recommendations with implementation in mind and provide support to translate plans into action.
We Build Capacity
Our goal is to leave organisations stronger and more capable, not dependent on consultants. We transfer knowledge, develop internal champions, and create sustainable momentum.
Start a Conversation
Every Organisation’s Journey Is Different
Whether you’re just beginning to think about demographic change or well advanced in your planning, we’d welcome the opportunity to discuss your situation and explore how we might help.
[Contact Our Consulting Team]Críonna Health
Dublin, Ireland [email protected]
