EVEN in death you won't escape price hikes.
The price of a burial plot is set to double in parts of the capital.
South Dublin County Council has confirmed that at its annual budget meeting it will be proposing the increases.
Among the proposed hikes is an increase from €1,200 to €2,400 for the purchase of a grave and a rise from €500 to €1,000 for a space in the cremation plot.
A space in the Little Angels' plot for infants will go from €100 to €200. The cost for a child's grave space in Islamic burial grounds is set to increase from €380 to €760, while an adult grave is set to double to €1,520.
According to the council, in recent years the burial grounds have incurred an operational deficit which has been subsidised from other sources of income.
In 2012, the expenditure on burial grounds is projected as €1,599,600; while the projected income is €800,000.
Savings
It is understood that the recommended increases are substantial, and could be in of the order of 100pc.
It currently costs €1,200 to buy a burial space in one of the four graveyards that still have space in the South Dublin County Council area.
These are Bohernabreena, Esker, Saggart and Newcastle cemeteries.
A spokeswoman for South Dublin council said charges of €1,900 to €16,000 currently applied to similar plots in other local authority areas.
Fianna Fail's Eamonn Walsh called on the Labour and Sinn Fein-controlled council to reject the proposed increases at the budget meeting.
He said many people make enormous efforts to set aside some of their savings for their funeral arrangements so as to not burden those they leave behind. As a result, he said, he would strenuously oppose the proposal.
He added: "The council has proposed the doubling of prices from purchase of burial rights to interment of ashes. Many people make enormous efforts to set aside some of their savings for their funeral arrangements so as not to burden their loved ones left behind."