More detailed school planning, in which the Department of Education agrees to provide a greater level of teaching support for each subject area, has been proposed by the main secondary teaching union.
In a submission to a new review body on second-level education, the union also warns that the Republic's pupil/teacher ratio remains much higher than most other European states.
The submission, from the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI), suggests that the number of subjects to be offered by schools could be included in a school plan, and the Department of Education could agree to fund the number of teachers necessary to cover all the subjects.
The ASTI's deputy general secretary, Mr John White, says the current system for allocating teachers is too inflexible. He says it has led to the "unavailability of sufficient numbers of teachers in schools to provide wide subject choice".
The submission also states that the maximum class size should be 20 students, and that this should be reduced to 15 students over a period of time.
It says one way to address large class sizes is to relieve teachers from extra-curricular activities. It also suggests that every school should have a full-time principal.
It says this is necessary because of the pressures on principals, particularly in larger schools.
It says "realistic relocation grants" should be used to encourage teachers to move house and take up posts at schools where there are vacancies.
It also states that financial incentives should be given to teachers to acquire new qualifications.
It states that up to 20 per cent of students have special educational needs and that a learning support teacher should be provided for every school with 200 students, a guidance counsellor should be provided for every school with 200 students, and a home-school co-ordinator should be set aside for every school with 400 students.
The ASTI submission says that at present if a teacher dies or leaves the profession they may not be replaced and the subject they taught may be eliminated.
To prevent this, it says a curriculum guarantee would ensure all schools have sufficient teachers to teach an agreed curriculum.
The present system operates on the basis of allocating teachers according to the overall number of pupils in the school.
Second-level pupils should be given a "curriculum guarantee" to ensure all subjects offered to them by their schools are taught, the ASTI argues.