The Minister for the Arts has promised that a previously unused X-ray scanner bought in 2017 will be put to work “before the end of the year”. 

The National Gallery bought the scanner for €120,000 but have so far been unable to find a suitable lead-lined room for it. 

Tánaiste Simon Harris said when he heard the news his reaction was one of “absolute fury” and said there are “serious control issues” within the public sector. 

On The Hard Shoulder, Minister Patrick O’Donovan said he has since been to the National Gallery to see the scanner for himself and consult staff. 

“They gave me a version of how it was that we got to this stage that so many years later, the machine hasn’t been turned on,” he said. 

“Which look, I took at face value, and they gave a commitment to me that it would be used before the end of the year. 

“Without any additional costs to the exchequer or my department. 

“That they’d fund any additional costs from their own resources.” 

National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. Image: Alamy

In recent months, the public sector has been engulfed in a number of controversies about whether they are getting value for money when they sign off on public projects. 

The OPW has spent €336,000 on a bike shed outside Leinster House and €490,000 replacing a perimeter wall. 

While the Art Council was invoiced nearly €7 million for an IT system that did not work. 

Minister O’Donovan admitted the public have a right to feel let down by the public sector. 

“This is certainly enough to be very embarrassed in the first instance and also very angry,” he said. 

“The RTÉ debacle had the whole country convulsed; the Arts Council, I brought a memorandum to Government on Tuesday to tell the Cabinet what I had done in the intervening period since finding out and asked for permission to establish a really in depth root and branch analysis of the corporate governance.

“As well as that, the overall culture within the Arts Council.”

The National Gallery in Dublin. Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Minister O’Donovan added that there are “serious questions” that need to be answered by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media about procurement.

“We really have to get under the bonnet to see if there are systemic issues that need to be solved without incurring costs as taxpayers,” he said. 

“That’s my bottom line.”

Main image: Patrick O'Donovan. Picture by: PA Archive/PA Images.