IT was "highly questionable" whether the taxpayer had received value for money from the investigation into missing Leaving Certificate artwork, Fianna Fail has claimed.
The party's spokesman on education, Mr Micheiil Martin, (claimed yesterday that the Price Waterhouse inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the students' missing artwork "provided no clues whatsoever" as to the whereabouts of the material.
The Price Waterhouse investigation - which cost £60,000 - involved no direct contact with An Post at any stage, according to Dail replies tabled to Mr Martin.
"It was a full four months after the discovery of the original error in November 1995 that the Department of Education formally requested An Post to assist in tracing a package of artwork despatched by post from the Ursuline Convent in Sligo", he said.
"This was at the request of Price Waterhouse. This seems extraordinary to me and raises serious questions about the quality of the investigation undertaken. Furthermore, it seems incredible that the Department of Education only formally sought assistance from An Post a full four months after the discovery of the original error."
It has also emerged that Price Waterhouse did not make direct contact with the company referred to in the Dail by the Minister for Education, Ms Breathnach, in relation to the signing of a receipt for packages containing the missing artwork.
"The Minister refused to name the company in the Dail or to outline what steps were taken to check the authenticity of the receipt signed for by an employee of the company with premises in Sligo", Mr Martin said.
Given the cost of the investigation, it was "unacceptable" that answers to these basic questions had not been provided.
Meanwhile, Price Waterhouse had been hired by the Minister to prepare a further report on the examination appeals system.
"The taxpayer is being bled to death by consultants' reports and inquiries ... This present Minister is hiding behind Price Waterhouse and refusing to accept responsibility for the effective organisation of the state examination system", Mr Martin added.