Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Alfred Beit Foundation met the former Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht a number of years ago. I am not aware that the specifics of the sale were discussed in 2013, but I want to be very clear that I was only informed of the decision last month. That was the first time I met the chairperson of the foundation, several months after it had entered into an agreement with Christie's to have the paintings sold. During my meeting with the chairperson on Tuesday evening I made it clear that it would have been preferable if the trustees had come to me before making their decision to sell the paintings. The fact that they are now in an auction house in London makes this, as I said, a very difficult situation to unravel. Regardless of this, the fact remains that the Alfred Beit Foundation is an independent trust and I cannot instruct it on how it should do its business. I draw the Deputy's attention to what it stated in a press release yesterday:

The Alfred Beit Foundation (ABF) is the owner of the relevant paintings at the centre of the current sales; these paintings were not left to the State by the Beits ... Before any sales plans were made, the perilous financial situation at Russborough...

The trustees went through the position in great detail. They told me they had a masterplan and that this was part of it. We have to acknowledge the great work they have done in the past 40 years in terms of what they have provided in Russborough House and that they work very closely with the community.

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