Dozens of artworks in the hands of a former state-owned hotel chain belong to the people of Ireland, Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism John O'Donoghue insisted tonight.
He made his comments after it emerged that Great Southern Hotels removed up to 54 paintings from its Parknasilla hotel in Sneem, Co Kerry to be valued.
The works are among a larger collection of then emerging artists bought by CIE in the 1960s and 1970s, with the help of the Arts Council, and believed to be worth millions of euro today.
A spokesman said Mr O'Donoghue believes that the art collection belongs to the Irish people and is supported in his view by Government.
Mr O'Donoghue instructed a senior official at his department on June 6 to write to the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), a publicly-listed company which now owns the Great Southern group, to ask if it intended to put the works on the market.
In the letter, the official stated: "You may not be aware of a circular issued by the Department of Transport some years ago (I believe in response to a proposed sale of art by another commercial state company).
"This circular specified that in the event of art valued at more than €10,000 being put on the market by a state entity that the state, through either the OPW (Office of Public Works) or the national collecting institutions had to be given first option on that art."
First option is taken to mean that any painting appropriate to the national collection institutes and of cultural value to the Irish people should be handed over for public display, according to Mr O'Donoghue's spokesman.
"The department's position is that they understand the artworks have been removed for evaluation purposes," he said. "The DAA have recently made contact with the department and are fully conscious of the requirements involved in this process.
"There will be a full consultation between the minister, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, the Arts Council and the DAA over the coming weeks to decide on the future of the paintings," he said.
PA