HSE spends more than €220,000 to bury those with no family to organise funeral

Ken Foxe

The HSE has spent more than €220,000 on burials for people who died in their care who had no family to organise a funeral.

The health services said they sometimes paid costs for people who were in long-stay care before being transferred to an acute hospital in their last days.

They said there were occasions when there were no records of living family members, and nobody came forward after the person died.

In 2024, around €116,000 was spent by the HSE on burial expenses for people without means.

The majority of the spending – some €82,000 – was incurred in the HSE South and South East region.

A further €25,000 was spent in the Midlands Financial Region, and around €9,000 was paid by the HSE in the east of the country.

For 2023, expenditure totalled €106,000, with around two-thirds of the spending in the HSE South and South East region.

The HSE said that normally, burial expenses were paid for by relatives.

However, there were times when an HSE service, including acute hospitals, paid for funerals for people “with no known relatives.”

An information note said: “While a person may pass away in an acute hospital, [they] may have been in a long-stay or psychiatric unit for years, before being transferred to an acute setting upon becoming acutely ill.

“There may be no record of living family members who would have made themselves known to that unit.”

The HSE said there were also cases where the family of homeless individuals who passed away in acute hospitals could not be traced.

They said in those circumstances, they would liaise with community services to try and find relatives.

The information note added: “Where the burial expenses of a deceased person are to be met by the HSE, it is usually the coroner or the community welfare officer who arranges same.”

The HSE also added that the figures only covered their services and not voluntary hospitals, which could have their own arrangements in place.