After RIP.ie began charging for listings, there have been some suggestions that the State should set up a free alternative.

The condolence website began charging funeral directors a €100 fee to post listings earlier this month.

In a statement yesterday, Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said the State should consider setting up a "centralised service that is easy to use and free of charge for users".

On Newstalk Breakfast, DCU associate politics professor Eoin O'Malley said he thinks the idea of a State-run condolence website is "nuts".

"If you’re concerned about the cost of funerals, you could probably look at the cost of undertakers and the things that they charge," he said.

"A funeral costs €7,000 and the bill for RIP.ie proves it’s going to be a pretty small part of that.

"We can already see in any case that new websites have sprung up to compete with RIP.ie, so presumably the price will come down."

Resources

Mr O'Malley said the State does not have the resources to provide a free condolences website.

"Of course the State won’t do it for free because it will cost money - it will cost taxpayers’ money," he said.

"There was a suggestion that it’s just a question of births, deaths and marriages - but it takes a lot longer to register somebody’s death and for that to be put up formally.

"Usually people are already in the ground - you can only imagine if the State were to get involved."

Undertakers lift a coffin at a funeral, Alamy

Mr O'Malley said some politicians are too quick to call for State-intervention for certain issues.

"There's this assumption that the State has to solve every single problem and the State uniquely is capable of solving problems rather than just allowing things to go," he said.

"It's troubling to a large extent because the State can't do everything and if it tries to do everything then it ends up doing nothing properly."

Mr O'Malley said this idea of more State intervention would cause the State to "spread itself too thin".

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Feature image: A funeral leader holds his hat.