The Natural History Museum, which was closed earlier this year after a stairs collapsed, will now not reopen for at least two years due to planned refurbishment works.
The museum contains the national collections of animal, insects and birds from Ireland and around the world and celebrates its 150th anniversary this year.
Last July, a group of teachers was attending a science appreciation course in the museum when a stone stairwell collapsed. Ten people were taken to hospital.
The stairwell, which was not used by the general public, was located in the oldest part of the building.
The main building was due to reopen within weeks of the incident and then later close for major refurbishment works. However, the museum has stayed closed to the public for the last five months.
A final report into the collapsed stairwell is not yet complete and now it has emerged the entire museum will remain closed until after the refurbishment and conservation work are finished.
In a parliamentary reply to Labour's Mary Upton, Minister of State Noel Ahern estimated that the work will take two years, but he did not say when it will begin.
Pat Wallace, director of the museum, said he expects the works could take three years.
