Minister for Education Norma Foley has expressed support for the reintroduction of middle management roles for teachers in primary schools.
A moratorium was placed on the filling of so-called posts of responsibility in schools during the economic crash and it remains in place today.
Posts of responsibility are part of a school's leadership and management structure and include roles such as assistant principal.
Ms Foley told Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) delegates in Killarney that she was "keen to advance posts of responsibility in areas of policy priority" and looked forward to further discussions on the matter.
She said any move would have to be "subject to the budgetary position".
The minister's comments were greeted with applause by delegates.
Responding to the minister’s speech, INTO General Secretary John Boyle urged the minister to have those posts of responsibility restored in schools by next Autumn.
He said a lifting of the moratorium would help retain teachers because some were "throwing in the towel" because their skills and experience were not being recognised.
"The lack of opportunities for career progression is stifling and many are emigrating so that they can progress their careers," he added.
Mr Boyle said that 14 years after austerity, 1,300 schools were still missing assistant principals they were entitled to.
He said 16 teacher schools were missing three assistant principals.
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On the wider teacher shortage, Mr Boyle said the system was short 1,200 teachers. He said the Department of Education appeared to be in denial about the crisis in teacher recruitment.
"Droves of teachers have left Ireland to teach abroad and many are leaving the profession altogether," Mr Boyle told delegates.
He said it was time for the department to "face up to this issue head on".
He said action needed to be taken to tackle housing, and to incentivise teachers to work in rent pressure areas.
Mr Boyle also called on regulatory body the teaching council to make it easier for teachers who qualify outside the state to have their qualifications recognised here.
Delegates vote to reverse pay cuts for INTO leaders
Teachers attending the annual conference have voted in favour of pay increases for their trade union leaders.
At a private session yesterday, delegates voted overwhelmingly to back a motion which called for pay cuts taken voluntarily during austerity by the union's former General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary to be reversed.
Former INTO leaders Sheila Nunan and Noel Ward took voluntary pay cuts a number of years ago, in solidarity with members whose pay was cut by the Government during austerity.
The union undertook a high-profile campaign in recent years to restore the pay of teachers to pre-austerity levels. While historic losses were not addressed, the union is satisfied that future career earnings have been restored.
A source close to the union leadership said that now that pay equality had been achieved for members the view was taken that this voluntary pay cut should be reversed.
It means that Mr Boyle will see his salary rise to €199,000, while the pay of Deputy General Secretary Deirdre O'Connor will rise to somewhere between €106,000 and €145,000.
One delegate who opposed the move told RTÉ News: "It is too much money for a trade union leader to be making, because it puts them at risk of being out of touch with their members."
The leadership salary increases come as the rising cost of living, and the need for a new public sector pay deal to address this, promise to take centre stage at all three teacher trade union conferences today and tomorrow.
Delegates in Killarney point out that pay increases under Building Momentum mean their salaries are barely keeping pace with inflation.
Mr Boyle’s salary is linked to the civil service Deputy Secretary pay scale, while Ms O’Connor’s is being restored to the civil service Principal Higher scale, plus 12.5%.
An attempt to restore the General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary salaries to their original scales failed at last year’s INTO congress, but it is understood that yesterday’s motion was passed by around 80% or more of delegates in Killarney.
INTO delegates will later debate demands that the union and ICTU protect teachers from rising living costs in the next public service pay deal.
They will also call for measures to alleviate workload pressures on teachers and school principals, up to and including industrial action.
This evening, Minister Foley will address second level teachers at the ASTI annual convention in Wexford, while Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris is due to speak at the Teachers' Union of Ireland conference in Cork.
The TUI represents teachers in further and higher education as well as those working in the post-primary school sector.
The TUI says the severe scarcity of affordable accommodation as well as cost of living increases have led to a recruitment and retention crisis in schools.
Schools at all levels continue to complain of great difficulty in filling vacant posts and in areas such as Dublin they also say it is virtually impossible to find substitute teachers.
Second-level schools say the shortage is forcing schools to curtail subject choice for students, while primary schools say they have been left with no option but to take teachers from children with additional needs so that they can teach mainstream classes instead.
