The director of the National Museum of Ireland, Pat Wallace, has said he is "puzzled and concerned" about the plan to relocate the Seanad to the natural history museum on Merrion Square during the summer.
Mr Wallace expressed the fear that museum staff would not have enough time to document, pack and relocate the museum's contents before the proposed move in July.
He said there had been no meetings about the proposed move and no planning for the extensive operation that would be entailed.
"We would need extra staff to parcel up the extensive range of material and transfer it to a safe destination, but there have been no meetings about this and no planning for it," said Mr Wallace.
He said it was ironic that the Office of Public Works needed no planning permission for the proposed move of the Seanad, but the museum required permission for the renovations it proposed to undertake as soon as possible.
The natural history museum has been closed to the public since a staircase in the building collapsed last year, injuring 11 people.
Meanwhile the Minister for State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Noel Ahern, confirmed the report in The Irish Times that the Seanad is to be relocated to the natural history museum next summer.
The original part of the Leinster House complex will be closed for a year from this summer for repairs. The Dáil chamber, which is not part of the old building, will remain operational, but the Seanad chamber, which is located in the 18th century part of the building, will be closed down during for the duration of repair work.
It will be the first time since the State acquired Leinster House in 1922 that the main building will close it doors. The move arises from concerns about the structure of the building that have emerged in recent months.
The main problem is that the floors of the building are supported from the roof and not the ground. Mr Ahern has confirmed that agreement had been reached with the Oireachtas Commission, which runs the business of the two chambers, to close the building for a year to allow work to be carried out.
During the refurbishment, the Dáil chamber will be accessed from a new entrance and will remain operational.
The natural history museum, which is famous for its collection of rare and unusual artefacts, is also regarded as a unique institution because it is one of the few Victorian-era museums in the world to retain its essential features. The repair work on the museum will not begin until next year and is not likely to be completed until two years after that.
