Vol. 465 No. 3
137 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education whether more than one copy of a letter (details supplied) referred to in her reply to priority Question No. 2 on 28 March 1996 was received in her Department; if so, the number of copies that were received; the person to whom these letters were addressed; and the action, if any, that was taken in each instance. [9775/96]
During the adjournment debate of 5 March 1996, Deputy Martin stated that he had evidence that my Department had received a letter from the management of St. Mary's school in October 1995 at the same time as my office received a letter from a group of parents. I asked for an immediate search of my Department, a search which failed to find any such letter.
Following an inquiry with the school authorities, a copy of the letter was sent to the Deputy chief inspector of my Department by the principal of St. Mary's on 14 March. This was in turn sent to the examinations branch, which conducted a further search. On 20 March the letter was found to be in the possession of the senior officer who had mislaid other papers. I referred to these papers in my reply to the priority question on 28 March 1996.
