Three national cultural institutions are struggling to pay their pension costs and have asked the Government to intervene.
The chairs of the boards of the National Library of Ireland, the National Museum of Ireland and the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Imma) said the situation is “an issue of considerable concern” which “ultimately impacts our capacity to deliver programmes”.
Cathal O’Donoghue, chairperson of the National Museum; Ali Curran, chairperson of Imma, and Eoin McVey, chairperson of the National Library, wrote to Minster for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers and Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan in January to outline their concerns.
The letter, seen by The Irish Times, said the institutions are “required to fund pension payments and lump sum retirement costs out of our own allocation”, adding that this funding does not “come close to the actual cost”.
READ MORE
The annual cost is “extremely variable due to lump sums” and “hard to predict with accuracy given early retirements”.
“Every year we are faced with a difficult process of budget management to the year end in relation to pension lump sums and in the case of the National Library of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland supplementing our pension costs with our pay allocations,” the letter stated.
“To ensure we do not find ourselves annually in the position of funding pension costs through our reserves, bank borrowings or a reduction in activities, we would welcome proactive engagement with your Department as early as possible in 2026 to identify longer and more sustainable solutions to these reoccurring issues.”
The chairs told the ministers “the prospect of being unable to pay pensions and the legal implications of that is an issue of considerable concern for our board members and arises annually”.
“This creates uncertainty in budget projections and financial planning which ultimately impacts our capacity to deliver programmes and public engagement,” the letter, sent on January 12th and released via a Freedom of Information request, added.
[ Imma seeks legal advice amid escalating row with OPW over Kilmainham plansOpens in new window ]
The chairs requested a meeting with the ministers to discuss their concerns in more detail. No such meeting has taken place to date this year.
Spokespeople for the three institutions said they did not wish to comment beyond the content of the letter.
Officials from the Department of Culture meet representatives from each of the institutions under its aegis “on a quarterly basis to review a range of governance matters including finance”, a spokesman said. The pensions matter was discussed at meetings in 2025, but not to date this year.
“The meetings for the first quarter of 2026 are currently in progress. The Department can confirm that no separate meeting to review this particular matter has taken place since the letter was received,” a statement said.
The department is “aware of the challenges faced by certain National Cultural Institutions with regard to meeting the costs associated with pensions, and has actively engaged with the institutions in question on the matter”.
“Public bodies under the aegis of a department are provided with annual allocations of funding which are set out in the Revised Estimates Volume, and it is expected that they will manage their operational costs, including pay and pension obligations, from within the level of resources provided,” the statement said.
“However, in 2025, additional funding of €1.5m was provided, from savings within the Department’s existing budget, to these institutions to assist in addressing the increased pension costs incurred during the year.”
The statement added that the department “continues to engage with the institutions on the matter”.
The Department of Public Expenditure has been contacted for comment.
McVey is a former managing editor of The Irish Times.
