Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The items in question were in storage for some time. They were taken from Killarney House and put in storage pending the restoration of the house which is under way. There is an active investigation of the theft being carried out by the Garda authorities under the direction of an assistant commissioner. At the moment I have been advised not to dwell on the issue for operational reasons. Obviously, we are taking this seriously and progress is being made.

I agree with Deputy Ó Fearghaíl that we have good storage space in Swords at the moment. Any property in the ownership of the State should not be in private storage and if it is not on display in the credited museums to which Deputy Ó Fearghaíl referred, then it should be in State storage. This is what I have directed people to do. The items from Killarney House were taken from where they were and placed in storage. Many of the artefacts in question from Killarney House are now in State storage in Swords.

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