The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has been criticised for losing works of art and being unsure about its assets.
The audit office has reported more than 50 paintings worth £28,000 (€41,600) are missing from a collection of some 1,200. Efforts to uncover the missing works are continuing, the arts council said last night.
The report said: "We are concerned that some six years after a major review of the collection, four years since the appointment of a curator and three years since the department asked for the identification, reconciliation and valuation of the works, the council is still not in a position to know whether there are further losses and write-offs."
The audit report also criticised the arts council for its now-ended partnership purchasing scheme in which it shared the cost of art works with other institutions.
The report cites "significant shortcomings," "poor record-keeping and management" in addition to "historical failures" in the arts council management system.
The failures uncovered by the audit report follow the writing-off by the arts council of 96 works in the early 1990s, including works by TP Flanagan and Neil Shawcross.
It concluded that the council should have been more thorough in its review of operations since then, but more losses have been recorded.
Auditor general John Dowdall said there was "a history of poor controls and record management which has resulted in the loss of a number of works from the council's collection".
Also criticised was the failure to complete a policy of transferring its collection to museums and galleries begun six years ago, and the practice of storing some pieces in less-than-favourable conditions.
Concerns were further raised about the purchase of some works of art by those employed by the council itself, although it admitted that the council had insisted mechanisms were in place to avoid in-house favouritism.
Sinn Féin and the SDLP criticised the council for its failings.
In relation to the question of favouritism in the purchase of new works, one trusted source suggested that with such a small population and an even smaller arts community, it was inevitable that arts practitioners would be represented on the council itself.
The arts council cannot respond fully to the audit report until permitted to do so by the British parliament. However, it issued a statement yesterday, admitting failures but insisting that new measures were in place.