INTO General Secretary John Boyle has called for issues around substitute teachers, sickness and class sizes to be examined further by the Department of Education so that when teachers and children go back to school, "they stay back".
Mr Boyle said the Irish National Teachers' Organisation did not say its teachers would not go back to school unless substitute teachers were hired, but it is seeking certainty around how to manage teacher absences.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, he said the INTO is trying to be creative and constructive so that "when we get back, we want to stay back".
Mr Boyle said he expects that "eight weeks from today every primary school will be open and the vast majority of children and teachers will be back as they were