The INTO has decided to postpone further strike action in its campaign against primary school staffing and funding shortages until January to allow for negotiations with the Minister for Education and Science.
The union's general secretary, Senator Joe O'Toole, said its executive had discussed the result of an informal meeting between him and the Minister, Mr Martin, last week, and had considered the Minister's "invitation to participate in talks on an agreed agenda with the objective of exploring a framework of staffing and funding priorities for primary education".
Mr O'Toole said one of the union's principal aims was to "bridge the gap" between primary and second-level capitation payments, which go towards schools' running costs.
It was aiming to get primary schools' annual payments raised from the current level of £50 per pupil (£60 next year) to £120-150 within the term of this Government. Second-level schools currently get £177 per pupil, to be raised to £184 next year.
It was decided that one-day strikes already approved by the executive in three counties "should be deferred until the new year to allow the period from now until Christmas for negotiations to take place".
A decision on whether to go ahead with those strikes would be taken at the next executive meeting at the end of December.
Earlier the executive had decided to step up its campaign by authorising all the primary school principals in Co Clare to take industrial action, together with teachers on Achill Island, Co Mayo and teachers in the west Cork towns of Bantry and Bandon.
"Balloting has taken place in many branches and overwhelming and unanimous votes in favour of industrial action have resulted. These ballots were indicative of the growing support for the campaign in many areas of the country," said Mr O'Toole.
He said the union wanted to "make it absolutely clear to those who have so effectively supported us that there will be no drawing back from our commitment to significant increases in the funding and staffing of schools".
Meanwhile, the Bishop of Cork and Ross, Dr John Buckley, in whose diocese Mr Martin lives, has called on him to honour a commitment given in 1996 by his predecessor, Ms Niamh Bhreathnach, "to begin phasing out the local contribution as a means of funding primary education and to replace it with adequate funds from the Exchequer".