The country's primary teachers have warned that new policies to clamp down on bullying - and particularly cyber-bulling - may be too difficult to enforce because of overcrowded classrooms.
Education minister Ruairí Quinn has launched new nationwide policies for implementation in every school.
The policies mark the first update to nationwide anti-bullying strategies in two decades.
The new system formally expands the definition of bullying to include racist, homophobic and cyber-bullying.
But the Irish National Teachers Organisation says it could be impossible to police bullying in overcrowded classroom.
Spokesman Peter Mullan says teachers will find it difficult to spot bullying, which is secret by nature:
