The country's primary and second-level teacher's unions have said they will be drawing up programmes of industrial action, up to and including strike action, in response to this week's budget.
The decision was taken at meetings of the unions' executives, held today.
The TUI, ASTI and INTO executives all met earlier today to discuss their response to public sector pay cuts announced in Wednesday's budget.
In a statement issued after its meeting the Teacher's Union of Ireland called the cuts retrogressive, savage and completely inequitable.
The TUI have pledged a vigorous campaign of opposition which - like sister union the ASTI - will include a programme of industrial action, up to and including strike.
INTO, the primary teacher's union, has also decided on a protest campaign at local, regional and national level, also to include industrial action in the new year.
The leaders of the three unions are to meet early next week to discuss a coordinated campaign.
The union said it would be implementing any action in conjunction with the other teacher unions and the wider trade union movement.
Earlier, Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore accused the Government of deliberately scuppering talks with public sector unions to introduce unilateral pay cuts in the Budget.
Mr Gilmore said that there was a better way to reduce the public sector bill - by pushing through reforms, rather than pay reductions. He said that his party would introduce such an alternative proposal in the Dáil debate next week.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Gilmore said the Government had missed out on a great opportunity for reform, for political reasons.
Meanwhile, the Dáil debate on the Social Welfare Bill resumes today with a vote due at around 6.30pm.
Despite robust debate, the House is expected to approve the Budget cuts.
During last night's proceedings, Labour threatened a campaign of parliamentary disruption to delay the Bill's passage through the Dáil.
It backed that up by calling for a quorum on a number of occasions. A quorum stops Dáil business until at least 20 deputies are present in the House.
Fianna Fáil TDs defended the measure with Frank Fahey claiming the Budget cuts were necessary to prevent the International Monetary Fund from imposing far more stringent measures.
There were lively exchanges during last night's debate involving Fine Gael backbenchers and Green TD Paul Gogarty too.
Responding to vigorous heckling, Mr Gogarty conceded that the Budget changes were fundamentally unfair but necessary, and though he did not like them he was going to vote for them.
Fine Gael complained that job creation was not a priority for the Government, who wanted to rush through the vote on social welfare before the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Bill bringing into effect the social welfare cuts was passed by the Dáil, by 80 votes to 74.
