The country’s 33,000 primary school teachers will be balloted for industrial action over what their union says is the continued ban on job promotion, as well as an increasing workload.

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) is calling for an end to the eight year ban on promotions, saying more leadership is needed in primary schools.

The union says the ban is severely limiting the capacity of schools to function effectively.

The ballot will ask teachers to stop all involvement in school self-evaluation.

Peter Mullan of the INTO says self-evaluation cannot be carried out without adequate resources, adding that the Department of Education "hasn't responded positively" to their demands.

Sheila Nunan, INTO General Secretary, says, “unpromoted teachers are being denied opportunities for promotion, already promoted teachers are doing additional work because of the ban and most principals are trying to run a modern school without a full in-school management team".