Mr. George McCullough:

We had very good reasons for introducing regulations on monumental sculptors in 2006. We had become aware of all sorts of nefarious practices in the monumental sculpturing business, mostly due to health and safety issues. In one case, an individual came in with a flat-bed truck and a JCB actor as a crane, which was tipping over as it was lifting stones. We had to examine what we were doing. We have a code of practice and monumental by-laws. Every cemetery has a set of monumental by-laws which dictate who can erect a monument, on which grave it can be erected and what can be said in the inscription, for the orderly management of the cemetery.

In other words, is one entitled to put a headstone up on a grave? That has to be checked. It has to go through the records and all the systems of control, such as safety statements, vehicle registration, Safe Pass, health and safety, and, most importantly, insurance to us and to members of the public. We introduced a registration process in which any monumental sculptor could register with us under health and safety and a code of practice to abide by our by-laws and insurance. We introduced that on 13 June 2006. There were 16 sculptors registered, including Glasnevin Cemetery monument works. We now have 22 or 23 sculptors registered. They are registered sculptors that are on our books at Glasnevin, Palmerstown, Newlands Cross and Dardistown. There are another 30 ad hocsculptors - not only monumental sculptors but sculptors who carry out work occasionally in our cemeteries, which is usually of a very high quality - who comply with the exact same conditions. To say that Glasnevin Trust, Glasnevin Cemetery or Dublin Cemeteries Committee have put monumental sculptors out of business is not correct. Added to that, many of the funeral directors who operate in Dublin city now sell monuments. Fanagan's, Kirwan's, Nichol's and all of the funeral directors in the greater Dublin area sell monuments, generally for members of the monumental stonemasons' alliance. Added to that, cremation has increased by 50% so up to 50% fewer people are buying monuments. The monument business is contracting.

Mr. Pierce alluded to the by-laws of Dardistown Cemetery in his statement. When we opened Dardistown Cemetery in 1990 we introduced a by-law that only indigenous stone could be used. Mr. Pierce and his colleagues rigorously objected to that. We had no axe to grind and had nothing to make on it.We do not run quarries or supply stone to the stone industry. Its purpose was to encourage more art and more use of indigenous stone because we foresaw that Indian and Chinese mass-produced stone, which some people would call blood stone or slavery stone, would come into this country and replace the native stone from Kerry, Cork, Galway, Limerick, or Donegal, and all the small, usually farmer-run quarries around the country. We were quite right. It has disappeared. We stepped back from that by-law because of the furore that resulted from sectoral interests in the stone business. That resulted in Mr. Pierce talking direct action again the Dublin Cemeteries Committee through the Competition Authority in 1991, through the European competition authority in 1991 and 1992, more recently through the Competition Authority in 2011 and 2013, and through the High Court and the Supreme Court, all of which found in favour of Glasnevin Trust. This Bill is pointed directly at Glasnevin Trust and at no one else, apart from a few of the others from other cemeteries around the country. Mr. Pierce took an action against Dublin Cemeteries Committee in the Supreme Court, which ruled in our favour. This Bill is designed to overturn the decision of the Supreme Court. It is as simple as that.