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Irish gallery's €124k scanner not used for seven years

Getty Images A number of portraits in gold frames adorn the Staircase Hall in Dublin's National Gallery. A statue of a man crouched down looking to the sky is in the foreground and another statue of two men wrestling is at the bottom of the staircase. The top of the staircase has four large pillars and a statue of a man standing upright.Getty Images
The equipment was described as essential for examining the gallery's paintings in a non-destructive way

A scanner bought by Ireland's National Gallery for more than €100,000 seven years ago has still not been used due to concerns it is too big.

The gallery in Dublin purchased the X-ray system valued at €124,805 (£103,520) as part of a Digital Investigative Imaging Project in November 2017.

At the time, the equipment was described as essential for examining the gallery's paintings in a non-destructive way.

However, Irish broadcaster RTÉ is reporting officials could not find a place to put the scanner due to concerns about the "load-bearing capacity" of possible locations.

The National Gallery has been working with the Office of Public Works to find a suitable place for the scanner, but none has been found so far.

The gallery is now said to be looking to use it as a "mobile unit on-site" and it could come into use later this year.

On Tuesday, Irish Minister for Arts Patrick O'Donovan is bringing the annual report of the National Gallery to the government.

'Absolute fury'

Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin said it was "very difficult to explain why someone would embark upon purchase of a scanner that they didn't have a facility to locate it in".

"I think it falls on the gallery itself to explain what happened here," he added.

Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) Simon Harris said: "My reaction to this is the same as the reaction that every person will have right across this country - which is one of absolute fury.

"Government provides money to state agencies. They do very good work, but they're also accountable for the spend of that money.

"So the first thing I want to do today is hear from the minister in relation to this, and then I'm quite sure that people will want to hear from the National Gallery itself."

Another scandal over taxpayers' money

Getty Images Man on cherry picker wearing a high vis vest looking at the entrance to the national Gallery in Dublin Getty Images

Analysis by Kevin Sharkey, BBC News NI Dublin reporter

The Irish public is becoming increasingly fed up with what is now commonly regarded as the repeated waste of public money.

The new Irish government is already picking up where the last government left off with yet another scandal around how taxpayers' money is being used.

It comes in a month when the government had to order an external review of governance and culture at The Arts Council after the public body spent €7m (£5.8m) on an unsuccessful IT system.

These most recent revelations have come hot on the heels of other public spending controversies towards the end of last year.

It emerged that a security structure was built at the Department of Finance in Dublin at a cost of more than €1.4m (£1.2m) and a bike shelter was built in the grounds of the Irish parliament costing €336,000 (£283,149).

Opposition parties will not miss another opportunity to highlight what they regard as a lack of proper government oversight on how taxpayers' money is spent on public projects.