The Irish Museum of Modern Art (Imma) will not have money to pay its pensioners at some point this year, its chair has warned, after the Government gave it \u20ac275,000 less than it sought to fund payments in the last budget.<\/p>\n
Imma chairwoman Ali Curran wrote to Minister for Culture Patrick O\u2019Donovan in January to say the museum needed \u20ac321,000, based on the retirements it expected to occur, to fund pension payments for the year. <\/p>\n
It had requested this amount as part of last year\u2019s budget process, but was granted just \u20ac45,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cImma does not have available resources to support Imma\u2019s pension obligations beyond the allocation of \u20ac45,000, nor has Imma reserves of funding from previous years,\u201d Curran wrote in the letter, released under the Freedom of Information Act.<\/p>\n
She went on to warn that \u201cat some point in 2026 Imma will find itself unable to pay its pensioners due to an absolute lack of resources\u201d. The letter said the timing of that would depend on decisions to retire taken by individual employees. <\/p>\n
The museum first forecast this funding requirement in 2019, Curran wrote, adding that \u201cthe matter has been brought to the attention of the department on, at least, a biannual basis since 2021\u201d. The board requested that the \u201cmatter be addressed and funding secured as a matter of urgency\u201d. <\/p>\n
An Imma spokesman said there has not yet been an additional allocation of funds to cover pension costs for this year, but that full funding had been provided last year. <\/p>\n
\u201cImma remains in close dialogue with the department and is hopeful that the full financing requirement will be secured before the end of the year,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The museum said the situation was not resolved as a long-term solution would see all pension payments secured and funded through its annual grant from the Oireachtas. <\/p>\n
A Department of Culture spokesman said it continues to engage with Imma with regard to fully addressing the matter. <\/p>\n
The letter was written shortly after Imma co-signed correspondence to Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers, along with the chairmen\/women of the National Library of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland, flagging similar issues. <\/p>\n