Fine Gael's Education spokesman, Mr Richard Bruton, will attempt to raise the question of whether the promotion system in schools is discriminatory in the Dail today.
Mr Bruton is planning to table a special notice question on the system of promotion for teachers to posts of responsibility.
The system involves giving weight to seniority. Because there tend to be more senior male teachers than females, legal sources have indicated that a woman could challenge the system by arguing she had been placed at a disadvantage in relation to her male colleagues.
As reported in The Irish Times yesterday, the Department of Education believes the application of seniority weighting in appointments to promotional posts may contravene the Employment Equality Act.
A spokeswoman said yesterday that while the Department was concerned official advice from the Attorney General had yet to be sought on the issue and the Department intended to approach the Attorney General's office shortly.
Mr Bruton said the seniority weighting "discourages progressive young blood and also slows down the adoption of fresh ideas into the education system".
He said any changes envisaged should prompt an overall review of employment conditions in teaching. At primary level, he said, men fill just 20 per cent of teaching posts, but occupy 53 per cent of principalships. This as not just an inherited imbalance, he said. More than 40 per cent of appointments to principalships in recent years had been of men.