Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that. We will examine the matter further as time goes on. I thank the witnesses for that.

I want to move on to a quite bespoke issue, namely, that of storage within the cultural institutions. My understanding is that there is a storage facility for the National Museum which is housed in Swords. The National Museum of Ireland's collections resource centre in Swords houses 4 million objects. This is an extraordinary figure. What does the future hold for the storage of the key objects in our national collections, regardless of the institution? I understand that, in the case of the National Museum of Ireland, there are only eight years remaining on the existing lease and that a rent review that was due in September 2020 has still not been concluded. If we are seeking to animate any of the projects I outlined, we will have to decant many of the artefacts or pieces, be they artistic or otherwise, to other sites. How are the witnesses dealing with the issue of the storage of these precious items within our national collections, specifically in the National Museum of Ireland? What are the witnesses doing to ensure there is a sustainable storage facility for the National Museum of Ireland and other cultural institutions?