The scandal surrounding the National Gallery\u2019s \u20ac120,000-plus scanner is shocking but not surprising, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly.<\/p>\n
Deputy Farrelly, who is the party\u2019s arts spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s sadly no longer a surprise to hear another huge sum of money has been wasted by a State organisation \u2013 this time, \u20ac120,000 on a scanner purchased by the National Gallery – with no oversight or accountability from government.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth the Taoiseach and T\u00e1naiste have laid the blame squarely at the feet of the National Gallery. However, slapping the wrist of offending organisations is meaningless when departmental oversight structures are either deeply flawed or entirely absent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Public Accounts Committee must reconvene as soon as possible to address these issues head-on. A lack of due diligence within several government departments is going unchecked in the absence of the Committee\u2019s oversight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the meantime, the Minister for the Office of Public Works has urgent questions to answer:<\/p>\n
\u201cWas the OPW consulted before the scanner was purchased; what was the role of the OPW in finding a solution for the placement of the scanner; and were any proposals \u2013 like locating it offsite \u2013 ever considered?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s worth noting that this isn\u2019t the first time a state organisation has spent huge sums on equipment it couldn\u2019t house. In 2019, it was revealed the Oireachtas had spent more than \u20ac2 million on a printer. Incredibly, it now transpires the OPW were dealing with these two fiascos at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, it\u2019s time for government ministers to stop passing the buck and do something about the enormous waste of public money that has now become a feature of successive Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il governments.\u201d<\/p>\n
February 25, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The scandal surrounding the National Gallery\u2019s \u20ac120,000-plus scanner is shocking but not surprising, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly, who is the party\u2019s arts spokesperson, said: \u201cIt\u2019s sadly no longer a surprise to hear another huge sum of money has been wasted by a State organisation \u2013 this time, \u20ac120,000 on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[640,396,675,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accountability","category-aidan-farrelly","category-arts","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n