The Seanad has been told that nobody in Galway can have a funeral on a Sunday because of a shortage of council workers.

Senator Fidelma Healy-Eames says cuts in central funding mean councils now do not have enough money to pay overtime to workers.

And as a result, she says Galway city cannot host funerals on Sundays because the council cannot pay the overtime.

She has called for an urgent reinvestment in councils so that people's lives - and deaths - are not affected.

She says local authorities nationwide are being starved of crucial money.