Now cost of dying is soaring ... by €175

From May 1, Dun Laoghaire/ Rathdown County Council will no longer absorb VAT charges into the price tag but instead pass them on to families.

As a result, the interment fee for an adult at local authority-maintained graveyards is to rocket to €940 from €765, a rise of €175.

The charge to bury a child will go up from €385 to €473, an increase of €88.

A similar price will be imposed for cremation.

Jump

However, the council is abolishing the €150 fee for burials on a Saturday. Other increases include a jump of €200 in grave prices at Shanganagh Cemetery, from €2,700 to €2,900.

The local authority described the cost as very reasonable.

Cremation plots at the cemetery will go up by €100, from €700 to €800, and an annual stonemason's permit fee of €1,230 will be introduced.

No hike will be imposed on the €16,000 cost of a plot at Dean's Grange Cemetery.

Independent councillor Victor Boyhan called on council chiefs not to pass on the charges but to continue to absorb the VAT into the existing fees.

"At €16,000 for a new plot in Dean's Grange Cemetery, it must be the most expensive real estate in the country," he added.

Mr Boyhan said: "Cemetery fees are now a cause of concern and great distress to some families. Some of the council's fees are excessive and need to be reviewed."

The main reason for the hikes is to allow for the application of VAT imposed on local authority services by the Revenue Commissioners, a Dun Laoghaire spokesman said.

The VAT was imposed on local authorities from July 2010 and since then the council has absorbed it into existing cemetery fees.

"DLRCC is continuing to absorb the VAT in relation to a number of charges, for example, foundation and maintenance charges.

"However, interment charges are only now being increased to take account of 23pc VAT, as recently adopted by the elected members in the 2012 council budget," he said.

comurphy@herald.ie