Schools in the future might be assessed through agreed targets set either by or for schools which would take into account a wide number of factors, according to a spokeswoman for the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey.
However, she stressed Mr Dempsey had not yet put in place any formal review of school league tables. Instead, his comments on the matter at a recent OECD ministerial meeting were intended to "stimulate debate", she said.
"What he meant is that he is looking at everything," the spokeswoman said. "It is about having more information for schools, parents and pupils, with schools measured against an expected level of outcomes taking all the different factors into account.
"It is not a league table based just on the Leaving Certificate results per se he is looking at, but one that would take into account other factors such as retention rates, attendance rates, and pupils' socio-economic background."
The teaching unions, however, have expressed serious concerns about the effect which any form of league tables might have on schools here.
According to Mr Derek Dunne, president of the Teachers' Union of Ireland, the introduction of school league tables would "put the cause of remedying educational disadvantage back 20 years.
"If they were to be reintroduced, many schools could adopt elitist entrance procedures based on an assumption that pupils from affluent areas will get the best results," he said.
"We are calling on the Minister to clarify exactly who wants such a change ... we cannot see how the introduction of tables, even as part of a wider information package, would do anything other than accelerate the creation of a two-tier division of schools based on affluence and post codes rather than on equality of access."
Mr John White, acting general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) said the Minister's statement on the issue was "extremely confusing". A culture of league tables would result in schools casting aside all of the humane aspects of education, he added.
School league tables: practice elsewhere
School league tables, which primarily take into account a school's exam results, are currently published in England, but have been discontinued in Scotland and Northern Ireland. They are also under review in Wales.
According to a spokesman for the UK's Department of Education and Skills, the tables have recently been modified to include "value-added" measurements.
While these indicate how well a school has developed pupils from one test level to another, they focus solely on prior academic achievement and do not take into account other considerations such as the social background of pupils.
In Finland, which continually ranks highly in assessments of OECD education systems, league tables are not used. According to Mr Ilkka Turunen, Finnish counsellor at the OECD, the Finnish system undertakes a large number of evaluations at local, regional and national levels. While this information is sent to the school in question, it is not published.
School league tables are not published at second level in France, although a number of factors, including teacher and pupil performance, are taken into account when assessing a school's performance.
In the US, a number of states publish league tables, although the criteria used vary.