Dublin city and county is the most expensive location in Europe in which to be buried, it has been suggested in the Dail.
Labour TD Eamonn Maloney said the case had been made that "it is more expensive to have a burial in Dublin than in London or Paris".
He said the lack of competition for burials in Dublin “has influenced the high cost” and there was an issue about “Dublin city and county arguably having the most expensive burial costs in Europe”.
Fianna Fáil's Niall Collins said the average cost of a burial plot was about €1,100 with an additional administrative fee of €120, but there was huge disparity across the State.
A “premium space” in Glasnevin cemetery costs up to €20,000 while a local authority plot in Offaly costs €400, he said, pointing out that about 30,000 people die each year of whom about 3,000 opt for cremation. In the Dublin area, 50 per cent of people opt for cremation.
Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan agreed funeral expenses in Dublin were "far too high", but he said that, despite various investigations by the Competition Authority, "it is difficult to get evidence of collusion between funeral undertakers of anti-competitive arrangements to the detriment of the consumer.
He said, however, that “there is scope for investigation into those matters in the context of the consumer given that the Dublin are is becoming the most expensive place to have a family burial”.
They were speaking during a Dáil debate today on the Cemetery Management Bill introduced by Mr Maloney.
The legislation calls for a cemeteries regulator and targets the Glasnevin Trust which Mr Maloney claims has abused its charitable status through commercial enterprise.
He said the trust, as a charity, set up a headstones and monument manufacturing business, Glasnevin Works Ltd without authority, giving it unfair competitive advantage over rival headstone and monument works businesses and 16 had closed down since its establishment.
He said that since autumn last year, three other companies had ceased trading – Hilary Monuments, Emerald Monuments in Palmerstown and Farrells of Glasnevin in business since 1829, which he said was a landmark site on the doorstep of Glasnevin Works.
The Dublin Mid-West TD said that since the 1980s when the charity set up a private entity 16 firms in Dublin city and county had gone out of business because “one company was taking the lion’s share of manufacturing headstones and selling them”.
Mr Maloney said the GlasnevinTrust was established under Queen Victoria in 1846 and a Private Bill was passed in the Dail in 1970, gave the trust's committee power to borrow and invest but because of its "secretive nature" its assets are not known nor the amount of property it has.
He highlighted the recent debate about charities operating commercial enterprises and warned that without accountability and regulation “there will be a monopoly in the city and county, namely a company operating under the auspices of a charity”.
Mr Hogan said the Government would not oppose the legislation. He said of the trust’s establishment in 1846 that “those were different times and there is a need to reform the manner in which we deal with issues, particularly given the increasing number of people opting for crematoria”.
