THE Minister for Education has ordered the withdrawal of a sample tape in German prepared by her inspectorate for the new Leaving Cert Aural examinations next summer.
The move followed representations from the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, when he learned the tape involved a conversation in German about BSE between a man preparing a beef dinner and his female guest.
The woman asks if the man has heard about the disease.
A debate follows between the couple on the dangers of beef. The tape ends with the guest refusing to eat the dinner.
Following publication of a report in the Irish Farmers Journal about the tape, the Irish Farmers' Association complained to the Department of Agriculture.
Mr Yates contacted Ms Breathnach who agreed immediately to order its withdrawal. A Department spokesman, confirming the tape's withdrawal yesterday, said it had been prepared as a teaching aid for schools where German is taught.
"These tapes are made by the inspectorate in Athlone and they are supposed to cover topical matters and that is why the BSE issue was raised," he said.
"The tape was correct in the topical sense but it was unfortunate in another."
An IFA spokesman said it had raised the issue with the Department of Agriculture because it seemed "bizarre" that one Department should be trying to undo the work of another.
The Department, through An Bord Bia, was spending £500,000 on promoting home consumption of beef while the Department of Education was counteracting that campaign by playing the tapes to impressionable teenagers, the IFA said.