A benefactor is being sought to buy paintings from the Beit collection to keep Russborough House open, the trustees of the Alfred Beit Foundation have told Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys.

At a meeting on Wednesday the trustees asked the Minister about the State’s capacity to support Russborough and pressed for an improvement in the tax incentive scheme to encourage donors.

Ms Humphreys pledged to discuss the scheme with her Cabinet colleagues but told the trustees her department did not have the necessary funds, believed to be between €10 million and €15 million, to buy the paintings.

“The process to secure tax relief for the purchase of one of the paintings is under way – this will allow the painting to be kept in Ireland and donated to the National Gallery,” Ms Humphreys said in a statement.

Endowment fund

The Minister said she was committed to working with the foundation in the months ahead to ensure all options were explored to safeguard the future of Russborough.

The board said it explained the need to create an endowment fund of up to €15 million to ensure the long-term viability of Russborough.

“It was originally intended to sell certain paintings as a mechanism for raising these funds. At the Minister’s request, and of heritage groups who asked for more time for fundraising, it was decided to defer the sale to December 2015 in order to explore donations under the S1003 tax scheme,” it said in a statement.

It said talks were continuing with a donor about the possible purchase of one or more paintings which may then be donated to the National Gallery.

Without the funds, the board told the Minister “it will, in time, have to start planning for the ultimate closure of Russborough as its funds are dwindling.”