Glasnevin Crematorium Ltd says that move away from traditional burials led to increased demand for its services
New accounts for Glasnevin Crematorium Ltd show the business achieved the increase in profits as its revenues rose by 18pc from €3.29m to €3.87m last year.
The €1.22m surplus for 2023 follows a surplus of €1.09m for 2022.
Underscoring the increasing demand for cremations, the company signed a contract in October of last year with a Dutch firm to provide a new cremator for delivery this year for about €1.1m.
The principal activity of the company is to provide the community with a professional cremation and memorialisation service at each of its three crematoriums which it owns and operates at Glasnevin, Newlands Cross and Dardistown.
In their report, the directors say the company “achieved an increased surplus for the year arising from the increased demand for cremation services and memorialisations principally from the continuing trend away from traditional burials to cremations”.
The company distributes a portion of any annual surplus to its controlling party, the Dublin Cemeteries Committee, to support the sustainability of the charity and last year paid out €524,347.
This was down sharply on the €926,100 paid out in the previous year.
The directors’ report further states that in 2023, Dublin Cemeteries Trust provided funeral services to 4,764 people which was an increase of 106 on the 4,658 total. This was made up of 3,379 cremations and 1,385 burials “across all our cemetery locations”.
“We continued to work with an outstanding sense of duty and social responsibility and delivered our services to the public with high standards of respect and dignity,” they said.
The directors say it is envisaged that the population of the greater Dublin area will increase significantly by 2030, and that the number of people over 65 years of age will also grow significantly in the same period.
“It is inevitable, therefore, that there will be a significant increase in the demand for the essential service of burying and cremating the dead in the next 10 years – and indeed beyond,” they say.
They state that in terms of our strategic planning, “it is absolutely vital that Dublin Cemeteries Trust continues to prepare for this increased level of demand, and that we play a leading role in addressing and meeting that need in the years ahead”.
The directors add that the Dublin Cemeteries Trust Strategic Plan 2025-2027 will be vital “and sets the tone for a multi-annual approach which enables the Trust to play its part in serving the community for the next 10 years and for many decades to come”.
Figures provided by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that there were 35,459 deaths in 2023 which was marginally down on the 35,477 deaths registered in 2022.
The surplus last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €161,741. Numbers employed totalled increased to 11 and staff costs totalled €620,175. The company generated net cash of €1.4m from its operating activities.
The firm also spent €708,350 on the acquisition of property, plant and equipment which followed an outlay of €143,568 under the same heading in 2022.
