Some 133 teachers have applied to leave their schools in the last two years because they are experiencing serious "professional difficulties" and another 100 have looked to leave the system because they cannot cope with changes in the classroom.
Overall in the last two years, some 324 teachers - at primary and second level - have applied to leave their school under the Department of Education's special early-retirement scheme.
Many of the 133 teachers applying to leave because of "professional difficulties" were suffering from stress or "burnout", according to the Department.
Others had difficulty keeping discipline in their classes. Some 105 were in second-level schools, with the rest in the primary sector.
The president of the Teachers' of Union of Ireland, Mr John MacGabhann, said some teachers found the daily visits to classrooms extremely difficult, while others were suffering from ill-health.
Some 58 of the 133 applied last year and 75 are in the system for this year, although their applications have not been completed and the eventual figure may drop slightly.
A large number of schools are now using the scheme to ease teachers experiencing problems out of the system without rancour.
School management sources said the scheme offers schools the chance to do this without going down the more adversarial route of a dismissal.
Often such teachers are offered support services first, but if these fail to deal with the professional difficulties the teacher can volunteer for early retirement.
The board of management of their school has to concede they are having such difficulties. The teacher cannot be forced to take early retirement. According to the Department's circular, it is open to anybody concerned with a teacher's welfare to draw their attention to the scheme.
On top of the 133 who have applied for early retirement for professional reasons, some 99 have applied under another strand which allows teachers to leave the system if their leaving "enhances the education service provided" at their school.
According to sources, this normally allows teachers who are finding it hard to keep up with changes in technology to leave.
For example, someone teaching a subject which involves a lot of information technology could apply under this section. A teacher finding it hard to deal with changes in the school could also apply under this section.
This enables schools to release a teacher who may be finding it hard to cope with pressure in the classroom and allows them to replace them with a younger teacher.
The latest figures for the pilot scheme - which has been running for the last three years - were released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Some 92 teachers applied to retire early because they held posts which were "surplus to requirements" and it was believed they "could not be redeployed readily".
This section is normally invoked when a school has more teachers on its books than the Department of Education quota allows.
Only teachers with more than 15 years of whole-time or pensionable service and who are "consistently" experiencing professional problems can apply to retire early under that section.
To retire under the section governed by enhancing the school's service the applicant has to be 55 years of age and have a minimum of 20 years' pensionable service.
The third section is open to all permanent teachers with over five years' pensionable service.