The Department of Education is not planning to alter the grades of 20 pupils in Co Meath whose teacher is alleged to have leaked them part of this year's Leaving Certificate Irish paper.
The Department said it analysed the pupils' papers in detail and was confident none of them benefited from a leak. However, "serious concern" about the matter remained and a Garda investigation was continuing.
According to sources, while a teacher may have leaked material, the students' papers did not reflect this. It is possible the students were given information but did not realise it was relevant to the aural section of the Irish paper.
The aural section involves candidates listening to a tape and then answering a series of questions about its content. The original allegation was that a woman teacher coached the pupils on the topics which would be coming up on the tape. The Garda's National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI) is understood to be compiling a file on the case and has interviewed the teacher and the pupils involved. She and the pupils are understood to have denied any knowledge of a leak.
The Minister for Education, Dr Woods, said regardless of the outcome of the Garda inquiry, it would have no consequences for the examination results of the candidates concerned or their offers from the Central Applications Office.
The Department denied yesterday it overreacted to the allegations made in mid-June by referring the matter to the NBCI rather than local gardai.
The Minister said he had a "clear responsibility to uphold the integrity of the examination system and the fairness of the grades awarded to all candidates".
One Department source said "we did not send this matter to the gardai lightly". He added that while the Department received rumours constantly about potential leaks, the information provided in this case warranted the matter being referred to the NBCI.
Dr Woods said: "The results of the Garda inquiry will be available in due course and any criminal matters which may arise from this inquiry will be a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions and the gardai."
He said several steps were taken as part of the Department's inquiries into the alleged leak. This included a "rigorous analysis" of whether the students' performance in the aural section was noticeably better than their performance in other sections of the paper. No noticeable differences were found, a Department source said.
Many teachers inform their students about items they think might come up on an exam paper, but this is normally based on a hunch or an analysis of the pattern of questions in previous papers. Under the provisions of the Education Act, 1998, prior disclosure of examination material is a criminal offence which carries the sanction of a fine or imprisonment.
Emmet Oliver can be reached at eoliver@irish-times.ie