A 2024 compensation study from the lobby group Irish Museums Association found there was an overreliance on temporary contracts and volunteers in the country’s museums. Around 52 percent of museum workers were on permanent or rolling contracts with volunteers making up their second largest pool, standing at 27 percent, IMA said in the report. The transition from short-term contracts to permanent positions is a fundamental issue Ireland’s museums need to address, the IMA concluded in its report. Temporary contracts add to instability, McAlister wrote, and create a culture of silence around employee mistreatment and toxic hierarchies. Fundamentally, the Irish museum sector needs to “face a long-overdue reckoning” with help from governments and funding bodies, McAlister said.