THE CHAIR OF the Public Accounts Committee has said that the Natural History Museum in Dublin will be closed until the “early 2030s”.

In 2024, the museum closed in order to undertake refurbishment and redevelopment works.

The works began in September 2024, and it was originally thought that the museum would be closed for “several years”.

The project will address longstanding issues with accessibility, as well as improve the preservation of the collection.

The building, located on Merrion Street Upper, houses the Dead Zoo, which is home to thousands of irreplaceable specimens, from elephants to insects.

Back in 2024, keeper of the museum Paolo Viscardi warned that, among other issues, some valuables had been damaged after 2019′s “beast from the east”.

““It snowed in the roof space of this building, because the roof isn’t good enough,” Viscardi told RTÉ at the time.

“That melted and then leaked into the rest of the gallery. So the elephant got covered in water, and that’s not good to taxidermy… Those are the sorts of problems we want to prevent in the future.”

The Public Accounts Committee this morning heard of an update that was provided by the Office of Public Works (OPW) on the redevelopment of the Natural History Museum. 

At a Public Accounts Committee meeting this morning, Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe called for the committee to write to the museum seeking a “more detailed breakdown” of the money spent on redevelopment so far.

In particular, he sought detail on a €2.6 million spend on “investigative works and upfront design costs”.

Committee chair John Brady agreed that the information provided does “not get into specific information”.

“I know there were issues there previously with the stairwell within the premises, which is a fairly old premises,” said Brady, “and certainly it has been cited that additional work is needed.”

Brady meanwhile said he has “concerns that the museum’s been closed since 2024” and that with the “current expected time frame, it’s going to remain closed for nearly up to 10 years”. 

“We don’t have an overall final cost,” said Brady.

“€3.6 million has been spent on the enabling and storage costs, so I think it’s an issue. 

“I’d have concerns, given the OPW is overseeing this, of the potential for overspend and runaway costs. 

“I think we need further sight of the expenditure to date and a more comprehensive breakdown as to the timeline. 

“Having such an important museum closed until the early 2030s, I think is quite concerning.

“Absolutely, it does need work, but we need a comprehensive breakdown [of costs].”

The committee agreed to publish correspondence which was sent to it from the OPW last month and to seek “further information” on costings.

The OPW has been approached for comment.