The Taoiseach has said the Government is examining options that might be available to keep a number of paintings from the Alfred Beit Collection in Ireland.
Earlier, An Taisce's heritage officer Ian Lumly called on Enda Kenny to coordinate what he termed a "a constructive Government response" to halt the sale of paintings from the collection at auction in London.
Two of the paintings are due to be sold tomorrow but the rest, including two paintings by Ruebens, are due to go under the hammer on 9 July.
An Taisce is calling for the sale to be abandoned and negotiations initiated with all concerned parties.
Speaking in Castlebar, Mr Kenny said the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys would meet with the chair of the Alfred Beit Foundation tomorrow to discuss a range of "possible opportunities".
Mr Kenny said while the Trust was a private one it was important to note that the collection had been left to the Irish people.
He said there were contractual matters that he could not go into but Ms Humphreys would discuss the issues in detail with the Trust.
When asked if the Government was prepared to fund the purchase of the works, Mr Kenny said it was too early to say what might be possible.
He said there had been issues in the past with the Chester Beaty Library and the Marsh library.
He said this was a situation where "you could possibly look at a range of options beyond Russborough" and these would be discussed tomorrow.
Mr Lumly said departments including Arts and Heritage, and Tourism should have an interest in the sale and he said the Mr Kenny should coordinate a constructive response.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland earlier, Communications Officer with An Taisce Charles Stanley-Smith said many questions have arisen following the private sale of a painting by French artist Jacques de Lajoue earlier this year.
The painting had hung in Russborough House, Co Wicklow, until last year.
He said it was very unusual to sell a painting like this privately and not through public auction, which allows for the sale to be open and guarantees the best price is obtained.
He added that no one knows how much the painting was sold for, who it was sold to and whether or not it was sold for the highest potential price
Separately, An Taisce will hold a conference this week along with UCD's School of Arts and Culture and the Georgian Society to put forward ideas on how to come up with funding for Russborough House, which houses the Alfred Beit Collection.
