Sir, – Further to Marie O’Halloran’s article “Dublin – the most expensive location in Europe in which to be buried” (June 9th), it is worth noting some of the most significant changes in the past year to the costs of a burial – the removal of the bereavement grant, and the recent addition of VAT on both the purchase of a grave, and on the cost of opening a grave, ie the gravedigger’s fee .
The bereavement grant, previously available to all families, made €850 available towards burial and funeral costs, removing some of the financial trauma of having to find the large sums of money, unobtainable for many, for the burial of a loved one.
The State now considers it appropriate to inflict on the recently bereaved and traumatised surviving family member the exposure in person to a stranger at a hatch of all their financial data to qualify for a burial grant or a percentage of one. This is addition to negotiating the often bewildering and complex morass of the local health board “rules”.
The cost of a new grave for two, in Dublin’s council-owned cemeteries, starts from €2,500, and typically has an additional €1,000 gravedigger’s opening fee in addition to this.
The elite sections of trust and private graveyards such as Glasnevin and the Garden plots in Mount Jerome (starting at €16,000) are out of range for most.
TDs should do the right and honourable thing and reverse the additional taxes and reinstate the bereavement grant for all. – Yours, etc,
H RYAN,
Maywood Avenue,
Raheny,
Dublin 5.