Office of Public Works ‘missing’ 37 artworks from State collection

Thirty-seven State-owned artworks that have gone missing range in value between €100 and €1,150, according to the Office of Public Works (OPW), which manages the collection.

A spokesman said the majority are priced at under €500. However, he declined to release details of the individual works because the “collection audit process is still ongoing” and it “would be premature to release details” before the process “is fully complete”.

The comments follow revelations in a parliamentary reply to Social Democrats Kildare North TD Aidan Farrelly the 37 works were “unlocated”. They are part of the State art collection of 13,500 paintings, sculpture and other works on display in almost 500 buildings.

Mr Farrelly said, however, “if there are 37 pieces missing from an audit of 2,600 and they have a total of 13,500 in their collection, it’s probably reasonable to expect there’s potentially up to a few hundred pieces unlocated if not more than that – essentially missing”.

Minister of State for the OPW Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran said the collection is managed by the OPW’s Art Management Office, and “19 in-person collection audits and 37 digital collections audits were undertaken in 2025”.

Some 2,633 pieces were audited and “from these collection audits, 37 artworks were categorised on the collection management system as unlocated”.

He described the collection as a “unique cultural entity” including works “of historic significance and contemporary works by emerging artists in the early stages of their careers”.

Mr Moran said “every artwork in the State Art Collection is given a unique number and photographed before it is placed on display in client buildings”.

Once an artwork “is noted as unlocated, the Art Management Office engages with clients in the relevant building to identify the current location.

“The Art Management Office also conducts a further analysis into the record history of unlocated artworks, including the length of time for which they remain unaccounted for, with the purpose of locating the works.”

There is no policy to value the collection financially as a whole and this is in line with other national collections, he said.

“Financial valuations are only undertaken on individual artworks where there is a need to insure them when they are placed on loan to external third parties or exhibitions.

“The value of the State art collection is measured by its cultural and heritage significance, not its financial value, and therefore fluctuations in the art market do not alter its value.”

Mr Farrelly said “it makes no sense to me that they’re not having a valuation on that. There’s an intrinsic value to these pieces, irrespective of whether they’re in State ownership or third-party ownership.

“If these pieces were robbed from an OPW site, am I wrong to assume that they’re not insured while they’re on an OPW premises. The valuation is only taken when they’re put out to a third party, for insurance purposes.”

He expressed concern, “if you don’t have a valuation on them and you can’t keep stock of them or a percentage of them maybe it’s time to reach out to people who have a specific expertise in this”.

He asked, “does it stop with the art work? When it comes to the OPW or any other State body, if there’s an issue in one area, does this extend to vehicles in their stock? Does it extend to IT infrastructure in their stock?”

The OPW spokesman said, “according to best practice collection management standards, financial valuations should not generally be applied to public collections as a while.

“The State art collection is a unique and irreplaceable asset whose intrinsic value lies in its cultural and social significance.”