Artworks missing after Oireachtas changeover

Paintings from the walls of Leinster House were found stuck down the back of office furniture or forgotten in storage crates after the changeover of politicians and personnel that followed the 2011 general election.

But while 18 pieces were rescued in this way over the past year, 22 others remain unaccounted for despite extensive searches of the rooms that make up the Oireachtas complex.

The concern now is that they may have been moved off site without their new location being registered.

These include original prints by well-known Irish artists Peter Knuttel, Valerie Hannan and Diarmuid Delargy. The Office of Public Works which is responsible for the pieces said they were among more than 720 State-owned artworks on display in the Houses of the Oireachtas — and part of an overall collection of 8,900.

A spokeswoman said: “With the last change in Government, there was a major turnaround of personnel and office spaces and this resulted in an unprecedented number of artworks being moved and redistributed throughout the Leinster House complex.”

The works were recorded as missing after a survey carried out last year. The OPW’s own art management policy document drawn up in 2007 says surveys should be conducted annually but the spokes- woman said the previous full survey was in 2008.

She also said new protocols were put in place last year to monitor the movement of paintings and other art works but this issue too was covered in the 2007 document. The OPW says the paintings are valued at about €7,000.