The INTO claimed major success for its campaign on class size yesterday after the Taoiseach said at least 4,000 more primary schoolteachers would be provided.
In his ardfheis speech, Bertie Ahern also made a commitment to addressing the class size issue.
The surprise announcement came after a three-month period in which the Government has been jolted by the huge level of public support for the INTO campaign. In recent weeks, more than 13,000 parents and teachers have attended INTO public meetings on the issue.
At present, some 25 per cent of pupils in primary school are in classes of greater than 30. Fewer than 15 per cent are in classes of less than 20. Ireland has the second-biggest class sizes in Europe at primary level.
A commitment to reducing classes to 20 or less for all under-9s was made in the programme for government.
Until Mr Ahern's announcement on Saturday, the Government had insisted it could do no more to address the class size issue because it had to find significant new funding for special needs and newcomer children.
The Government had argued that the commitment in the programme for government would have been met but for these new demands.
But Saturday's announcement signals a major policy U-turn. It also underlines the power of the INTO, which has more than 25,000 members in the Republic.
Last night, the INTO general secretary John Carr said the commitment to 4,000 new primary teachers was a vindication of the INTO's campaign.
"The INTO has put class size on the political agenda," he said. In June 2006, the INTO delivered a petition of more than 200,000 to the department, signed by parents calling for smaller classes in primary schools.
Mr Carr said he looked forward to immediate discussions with the Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, to work out the details of the promised class size reductions.
"Parents and teachers will want to see the details of the Taoiseach's announcement. They will want to know when their children's classes in primary schools will reduce in size."
In a separate development, the ASTI has welcomed Mr Ahern's announcement that his party's focus in relation to second-level education will be on reducing class size in the core subjects, English, Irish and maths.
Last night, the ASTI general secretary John White said the statement comes in the context of gross underfunding of second-level education, which has resulted in Ireland coming 29th out of 30 OECD countries for spending on each second-level student relative to GDP per capita.
Underfunding of our second-level education service has led to not enough teachers in schools and large class sizes, he said.
The latest figures show that 30,000 junior cycle students are in classes of 30-plus and a further 95,000 are in classes of between 25 and 30.
The ASTI is to meet Ms Hanafin to seek clarification on the Taoiseach's commitment.