The Office of Public Works (OPW) has disputed a suggestion that it rejected an agreed location for the National Gallery of Ireland’s (NGI) €125,000 unused X-ray scanner.
The contention was made in an October 2021 “progress report” sent by the NGI to the Department of Arts – and released under the Freedom of Information Act.
It shows that the gallery warned in 2021 there would be a delay of another year in finding a home for the scanner.
The X-ray machine remains unused, more than seven years after its purchase in late 2017.
The NGI confirmed on Friday that the cost of a cabinet required to house the scanner will be an additional €175,000, exclusive of VAT, with the extra spending to come from its resources.
The NGI expects the scanner, which is used to inspect valuable works in an unintrusive way, to be brought into use this year with the purchase of the cabinet.
The 2021 progress report states that there had been “significant engagement with the OPW on the location of the X-ray room”.
Issues around load for the required lead lining needed for the X-ray room were cited as the cause of “the most recent delay”.
The report adds there was “an initial agreement of a location but it was rejected by the OPW”.
It also says that with the approval of the fourth phase of the NGI’s development plan “the final location of the X-ray room” would be “finalised”.
“This room will not likely be in place in the next 12 months due to the size of this final part of the gallery’s site development.”
In a statement on Friday evening, the OPW disputed the suggestion that it rejected an agreed location for the X-ray machine.
It said: “In 2018, the Office of Public Works was made aware that the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI) had tendered for and purchased an X-ray Machine in 2017.
“The NGI did not consult with the OPW in advance of this tendering process to agree a suitable location for this machine.”
The OPW added: “In April 2021, the Office of Public Works was requested by the NGI to review a proposed location for an X-ray Machine and Protective Enclosure in the Millennium Wing.
“The OPW requested further information and attended a site visit where various impacts were discussed including issues relating to floor loading.
“The NGI did not, at any point thereafter, seek further technical advices or request a project to be progressed by the OPW.
“As such there was no agreed location for this equipment, at any stage, and no location therefore was ever rejected by the OPW.”
The statement added: “In recent days, the OPW has reviewed another location for this equipment, as suggested by the NGI, and has provided the required technical advices.”
