Funeral directors adopt a 'wait and see' approach to new €100 charge for death notices on Rip.ie

Most families are continuing to list their loved ones death notices on RIP.ie despite the recent introduction of a hefty €100 charge for the service, according to two local undertakers.

Niall Mulligan of Heffernan's Funeral Directors in Trim, who is a board member of the Irish Association of Funeral Directors, said there is a perception out there that listing a death notice up to this point was free but in fact there was a nominal charge of €10-€12 which many of the undertakers had absorbed rather than pass on. He added that some of the larger funeral directors who would be listing a lot of them would have passed on the charge but many hadn't.

He explained that funeral directors also had to pay a monthly charge for the banner notice above death notice and while this was not obligatory, Niall felt it was an essential part of the death notice and many also paid for the advertising space beside the notice.

"Up until now, for a lot of funeral directors, they just took it on the chin. It was a minimal amount. We never charged for RIP up to now. That has now changed obviously."

Niall said families are still going ahead with listing the death notice on RIP.ie despite the charge and he feels that when you compare it to the cost of using local radio or national papers, it still comes out as good value for the service as a means of getting the information out there.

"The perception that it was a free service is probably the wrong perception that was out there. That was probably what was annoying people more than anything else that they were now charging for it but it was never a free service."

In terms of the new websites being set up, Niall said if there is a more cost effective way going forward with the same service and checks and balances, they would look at every option but he also feels that a fractured market with multiple websites wouldn't serve the general public well either.

Undertaker Peadar Farrelly of Slane and St Joseph's Chapel of Rest, Johnstown, said that most families are continuing to use RIP.ie despite the charge.

Peadar said it is only a few days in and so far people are going ahead with it but he does feel that they will soon start asking questions. He said there was always a charge for undertakers but feels the increase is too much.

"It's too bold, it jumped too much," said Peadar.

He added that there are already three or four websites set up. "If they are doing it for free and just charging for the advertising it would be great and we would be pushing those. I think we will end up with a good free one and the undertakers will pay for advertising as we do already on RIP.ie."

Meanwhile, Jennifer Whitmore of the Social Democrats feels consideration should be given to a State-run service and said the introduction of the €100 charge has already led to plans for multiple new websites offering free or lower-cost alternatives to RIP.ie which would inevitably result in a more fractured service, making it more difficult to find funeral details online.