Ms Mary Hurley:

There appear to be two issues here: the technical regulation of cemeteries and the market regulation of cemeteries. As I pointed out earlier, with regard to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and local authorities, the responsibility is for the technical regulation of burial grounds. In respect of competition matters, that is not a matter for the Department. In response to the question from Deputy Dowds about whether something should be done, I think there is further work to be done on this Bill. There are a wide range of issues that come under the remit of various Departments, from funeral costs to property rights to national monuments and headstone sales. It is impossible at this stage to say whether something should be done. There are a breadth of issues from the Department's perspective. Our focus is around the management and operation of local authority burial grounds and that is where our responsibility sits.