The superintendent at the centre of the controversy surrounding the distribution of the incorrect examination paper to Leaving Certificate students has been suspended.
The State Examination Commission (SEC) confirmed today that the male superintendent at St Oliver's Community College in Drogheda has been suspended pending an inquiry into the incident.
It is understood the inquiry could take several weeks.
Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe has apologised to students and parents after the SEC was forced to reschedule today's Leaving Cert papers in English as a result of the error which occured at the Co Louth school.
The exam - English paper 2 at both higher and ordinary level - will now take place on Saturday at 9.30am. Some 51,800 students are affected: 34,500 at higher level and 17,300 at ordinary level.
Students at a school in Drogheda were given paper 2 instead of paper 1 yesterday morning. The mistake was realised by the superintendent and the correct paper handed out within minutes. However, news of the contents of paper 2 spread after students emerged from the exam shortly after noon yesterday.
The leak featured on the boards.ie website as early as 3.45pm yesterday. News of the leak was also communicated around the country by text message and e-mail.
Mr O'Keeffe said today the decision to reschedule the exam had been made in the best interests of all students. He said the integrity of the exam had been compromised by yesterday's regrettable incident.
The National Parents' Council said it was concerned and angered that the blunder had forced this morning's English paper 2 to be postponed.
The leak is a serious embarrassment for the State Examinations Commission, which took over responsibility for the exams from the Department of Education in 2003. The commission said it did not become aware of the leak until about 4.30pm yesterday. It said it was logistically impossible to reschedule the exam for today.
The Department of Education has said the regular Bus Éireann services will be made available for students to travel for Saturday's exam.
A spokeswoman for the SEC said it was advising students to study in the "normal way".
"The paper is based on the curriculum and the questions are based on that.”
It is understood a handful of Jewish pupils are sitting the Leaving Cert in Ireland this year and some may not wish to take the exam on Saturday morning, the Sabbath.
“We know that there are religious issues and we are taking advice on that at the moment and we are seeing how we can accommodate those pupils,” the SEC spokeswoman said.
Paper 2 in English is perhaps the most dreaded of all Leaving Cert exams as students have to guess which of the eight poets on the syllabus will feature.
Yesterday's leak is the first major security problem for the exam system since part of the Leaving Cert art exam disappeared in 1995. It was the furore following that incident that led to the establishment of the State Examinations Commission.
A helpline, 1800 713 913, which has already received thousands of calls, is open from 7am to midnight.
A questions and answers page for worried pupils has also been posted on the SEC website, www.examinations.ie.
Additional reporting: PA