Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this very sensitive issue. Coming from a rural background, I am aware that there are traditions at burial grounds that can sometimes fall foul of rules and regulations. It is terrible if a family have to endure this at a time of distress. It would be prudent to look at the matter to see where difficulties are being caused. I thank the Senator for raising the matter as it allows me an opportunity to outline the regulations governing burial grounds. As he has pointed out, the primary legislation dealing with the management and regulation of burial grounds by local authorities is the Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878, as amended by the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act 1948 and, more recently, the Local Government Act 1994. Legislative provision is also made in the Rules for the Regulation of Burial Grounds 1888, as amended.

While the primary legislation provides the broad legal framework for burial grounds, more specific matters relating to the management of burial grounds, including the depth of burial plots, are provided for in the burial ground regulations which require each grave, when opened for the first interment, be sunk generally to a depth of at least eight feet. This depth is considered necessary to protect public health, while also allowing for more than one interment in a particular burial plot. In certain circumstances, however, for example, where the nature of the ground does not permit a grave to be sunk to the minimum depth, it may be sunk to a lesser depth. This is a matter for the consideration of the local authority in consultation with the Health Service Executive which must certify that the depth is sufficient for the protection of public health. More than one interment in such plots is prohibited.

Concern has been raised recently in some areas about the depth of burial plots, notwithstanding the fact that the relevant regulations have been in effect for more than 100 years. In particular, concerns have been raised on health and safety grounds, with suggestions the regulations are inconsistent with more recent health and safety legislation. In the first instance, all workplaces are subject to safety, health and welfare at work legislation. They include local authority graveyards. Second, it is possible to comply with both the burial ground regulations and the relevant health and safety legislation. In this regard, the Health and Safety Authority, in conjunction with local authorities, has developed a safe system of work plan for employers and employees working in graveyards.

While the application of the system is a matter for each local authority, it can be applied through local authorities' own health and safety procedures and policies. For example, Cork County Council has issued a policy on occupational safety, health and welfare in respect of works in local authority owned graveyards. It covers, among other things, the excavation of graves. It provides that graves must be machine excavated in all save exceptional circumstances, but it also sets out procedures to deal with situations where, for example, in older rural graveyards excavation by machine is not possible. Accordingly, it is not considered necessary to amend the existing burial ground regulations. In the first instance, local authorities have sufficient scope to apply the regulations practically to deal with atypical circumstances as they arise and, second, it is possible to implement the regulations in a manner consistent with health and safety legislation.