In an attempt to defuse the current row over supervision and substitution in schools, hundreds of secondary school principals may be paid about €2,500 each for extra work they have taken on over the past few months.
The Department of Education said last night that it was examining the idea of paying principals for their efforts in bringing in non-teachers to act as supervisors.
The ASTI remains opposed to doing such work for various reasons, despite an offer of €37 per hour.
The proposal to pay principals emerged after talks between the Department and the Joint Managerial Body (JMB), which represents school management.
Earlier this year, when ASTI members pulled out of supervision, principals operated contingency arrangements and made sure that schools remained open.
They had to recruit and train non-teachers and also get them checked out by gardaí.
A spokeswoman said the Department realised principals had an expectation that they would be paid for the extra work. The Department was currently examining whether this expectation could be met.
Principals in ASTI schools will have to implement similar contingency plans in a fortnight, when schools open for the new term.
Many principals are aggrieved that the Department has not compensated them for doing the extra work. They are also angry that no payment has been agreed for furture work in the area.
Already, the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) has said that getting all schools to reopen for the new school year could prove difficult. The payment to the principals would be one way to improve the current atmosphere.
Mr George O'Callaghan, general secretary of the JMB, said that principals and deputy principals had worked very hard to keep schools open in recent months and there had been no recognition of this.
He said he remained confident that the Department - following intensive talks - would make a positive move.
A spokesperson for the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, said it was important to understand that supervision arrangements for this year would not be imposed on schools in a "big bang" manner. Schools could resume the arrangements which they had put in place last year.
The spokesperson added: "The Minister accepts that it is preferable that supervision and substitution duties in schools should be carried out by teachers.
"He acknowledges the co-operation of the TUI and the INTO in this regard. However, without the co-operation of the ASTI, a shortfall in personnel arises, and it is inevitable that any arrangements made to overcome this difficulty must involve those outside the teaching profession."
The ASTI may still change its mind on the supervision issue. Its standing committee is due to meet next week to discuss supervision and the benchmarking report.
While its annual convention ruled out any involvement in supervision, the union's standing committee can reverse that decision.