CRIMINAL SANCTIONS SHOULD be investigated regarding allegations that electrician exam papers are being sold the night before the exam.

That’s according to the Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless, who has commissioned a review into the alleged cheating.

A report in The Irish Times outlined how the department became aware earlier this year of allegations that electrician exam papers had been available for sale to apprentice electricians for €50 the night before tests.

The allegations also raised concerns about a public risk due to workplaces or homes being wired by people who were not adequately qualified.

“You wouldn’t want a surgeon operating on you that wasn’t properly trained,” remarked Lawless this afternoon.

“You wouldn’t want an electrician wiring your house or indeed your factory that wasn’t properly trained, either.”

Protected disclosure

Lawless said his office had received a protected disclosure about electrician exams and that he has had a number of engagements with the chief executives of Solas and QQI and has commissioned a review into the apprenticeship assessments.

He added that shortly after becoming Minister, he was made aware of “some concerns with the integrity of the assessment process”.

Lawless said the exams “tended to be predictable and very similar” and added that the “integrity and robustness of the system wasn’t where it needed to be”.

“We need to know that our skilled trainees are being tested and have the knowledge when they go into the workforce. That wasn’t happening.”

He also said he was “concerned” that “exam papers were being allegedly sold and being available for reward”.

“That’s obviously a breach of ethics and integrity,” said Lawless, “but it may also be a criminal offence.”

When asked about the scale of the issue, Lawless said he had also asked for a “wider review” of the 78 different apprenticeships “to make sure this wasn’t rampant and widespread”.

“The reports that I’ve commissioned so far, the findings tell me that it’s not [widespread], that it’s actually localised primarily around electrical apprenticeship.

“But I hope that a signal goes out that if there is any other misbehaviour, that has to desist immediately.

“That’s why I’ve asked for criminal sanctions to be investigated.”

“If anybody’s leaking a paper the night before an exam, there are offenses under the Education Act, but there’s also things like Theft and Fraud Acts, and if somebody’s making a gain by deception, that could very well be a criminal offense.”

Lawless said he sought legal advice on the issue and shared this legal advice with both Solas and QQI, and that he asked them to “seriously consider” appropriate referrals to gardaí that “might come under those categories”.

Meanwhile, Lawless said he is “very concerned, but I’m not as concerned now as I was at the start of the summer”.

He said the reason for this is that he has had a “number of reports commissioned and they’ve come back in and there’s a quality improvement programme being put in place”.

He added that the assessment process is “being taken into the universities where the apprentices spend their block time”.

“I’m moving that now into the colleges, where they sit their final block classes, and that’s a more appropriate place for it to sit,” said Lawless.

Lawless also said that an independent reviewer came in “to consider whether there’s any public risk with “workplaces or premises wired up that are not being done through trained personnel”.

He said a full audit has been carried out and “they reported back that that’s not a risk, that risk has been mitigated”.

Asked about whether qualifications for gas supplies was also a concern, he said: “They (an independent assessor) believe there are sufficient checks and balances included in the reports that I’ve commissioned over the summer to mitigate against that risk, but it’s something that I’m not done with yet. I’m keeping a very watching brief on it.

“It’s not good enough, it shouldn’t have happened, it should never happen again.”

-With additional reporting from Press Association