THE COST of a burial plot in south Dublin is to go up by 50 per cent next year while the cost of an Islamic plot will double, the local council has decided.
South Dublin County Council voted yesterday to increase the cost of a burial plot from €1,200 to €1,800 from January 1st, while the cost of an Islamic plot will jump from €760 to €1,520.
The charge for the burial of infants in south Dublin cemeteries will remain at €100 in 2012 while the cost for the burial of an Islamic child doubles to €760.
The increases were approved at the council’s annual budget meeting. A spokeswoman said it had been operating its graveyard service at a loss.
“We wouldn’t be meeting our costs so we had to increase the burial ground fee to bring them in line. We’re still actually €100 below the lowest in the Dublin region, even with the increase.”
Asked why the cost for Islamic burial plots had doubled while other burial plots had only risen by 50 per cent, she said Islamic burials were still cheaper than other burials because the land had been donated by the Islamic community.
“The land was given by the Islamic community so we keep the price cheaper. They have to be buried in an individual plot so there is an agreement with the Islamic community in relation to those graves.”
A spokesperson from the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland could not be reached for comment.
South Dublin County Council operates 18 cemeteries, only four of which have spaces remaining.
To the end of October this year, there were 345 burials in the council’s graveyards and 188 new grave spaces sold.
In 2012, the expenditure on the maintenance of the council’s burial grounds is projected to be €1,599,600, while the projected income is just €800,200.
Fianna Fáil councillor for Dublin South Éamonn Walsh said while he welcomed that not all burial costs were doubled as anticipated, his party voted against the budget “on the grounds of the burial costs and the fact we were unsuccessful in securing a greater commercial rate reduction”.
The council’s 2012 budget will see commercial rates drop by 2.4 per cent.
Eamon Timmins of Age Action Ireland said: “This is going to cause further financial worry for people who are trying to do the right thing and make plans for when they are no longer here.”
Mr Timmins said it was the only instance that he knew of where property prices were going up.