Vol. 518 No. 6
567 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science if, further to parliamentary Question No. 405 of 11 April 2000, he will provide an update on the efforts of his Department to locate the missing cassette recording; the number of staff who were involved in handling this cassette; the number of hours spent by staff looking for the cassette; the total number of missing recordings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12639/00]
Unfortunately, and despite further extensive searches within my Department, it has not been possible to locate the missing cassette recording. Due to the fact that it is not possible to state at which stage of the process the cassette was mislaid, it is not possible to definitively state how many people were involved in handling the cassette. However, a maximum of three people would have been involved and these three people cannot now find any trace of the missing recording. I also confirm that it is just one cassette that is missing and that this cassette would have included the recording of two oral examinations.
While at this stage it is unlikely that the cassette will be located, I again state that the fact that the tape has not been located does not in any way invalidate the results of the examination. The marks that were awarded by the examiner were on the basis of the candidate's performance on the occasion of the oral examination and not on a later listening to the cassette recording. My Department's offer to make an inspector available to meet with the person in question to offer advice on the oral Irish examination, and to make the examiner's notes in relation to the October examination available, continues to stand. No response to this offer has yet been received by my Department.
