Teaching unions will ballot their members for industrial action in September amid the ongoing stand-off with the Government over pay increases as the cost of living rises.
Public sector pay talks collapsed in June after the Government's offer of a 2.5% pay increase this year and next year was rejected.
Unions claimed that this increase did not go far enough in the face of ever-increasing inflation.
If the ballot for industrial action is successful, strikes could take place late next month - when the Government is planning to unveil its Budget for 2023.
Both the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) and the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) announced yesterday that they would be balloting their members in September.
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A spokesman for the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) said that their executive committee will be meeting today where the issue will be addressed.
The balloting is part of a campaign by public sector unions - which are members of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) Public Services Committee (PSC) - to put pressure on the Government to come back to the negotiating table with an improved offer.
ASTI president Miriam Duggan said: "A significant improvement in pay is essential to help offset spiralling inflation.
"Teachers, in common with other public sector workers, are finding it difficult to make ends meet. It is very disappointing that the Government is showing such scant regard for public servants in light of all they contributed at the height of the pandemic.
"The Government must return to the WRC with a credible proposal for unions and their members to consider."
The Government and the public sector unions were invited back to the WRC for negotiations at the end of July but a date has yet to be set.
INTO's ballot for industrial action will go ahead unless the Government's "irresponsible procrastination" ends quickly with a "respectable pay offer put on the table".
INTO president John Driscoll said: "Our members have waited patiently for their employer, the Irish Government, to take steps to address the enormous financial pressures they are facing.
"It beggars belief that - at a time when Exchequer returns are in a broadly positive space - the Government is engaging in delay tactics, seemingly forgetting the trojan work of public servants during the recent pandemic.
"Teachers will be concerned about the winter that lies ahead as schools across the country reopen for a new school term."
Mr Driscoll called the Government's offer in June "tokenistic" and said their "repeated failure to engage" in pay negotiations since then means they have to ballot for industrial action. He said: "This is never a decision a trade union takes lightly, and we are mindful of the disruption and distress industrial action can unfortunately cause members of the public we work with day in, day out.
"There is still time for Government to do the right thing and we call on them once again to return to the negotiation table with a respectable pay offer."
Last week, SIPTU said it would be balloting its public sector members at the end of August for industrial action.
The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has been contacted for comment.
