The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, will attend all three teacher union conferences next week, after agreement was reached with the ASTI yesterday.
Under the plan, the Minister, ASTI president, Mr Pat Cahill and vice-president, Ms Susie Hall will address the meeting.
There will also be an address by former GAA president, Dr Mick Loftus on "binge-drinking" among young people. Mr Dempsey will also be given an opportunity to wrap up the debate.
Last night, officials were finalising about six issues which will be considered by both the Minister and the ASTI leaders on Tuesday evening.
The format is similar to that which was already agreed by the INTO and the TUI.
The Minister and the general secretary, Mr John Carr, will address the INTO conference on Tuesday. But there will also be some debate between both speakers.
At the TUI conference on Wednesday union president, Mr Derek Dunne and the Minister will also discuss a range of issues.
The "on-off" saga about Mr Dempsey's attendance has created much anger among the teaching unions. Some teaching union representatives yesterday accused Mr Dempsey of being far too fussy.
"We have spent a week sorting out an agreement for the Minister to address a conference. There must be a better way of doing business," one said. But Department officials have also been angered by the difficulties in resolving the issue.
Mr Dempsey pushed for change in the traditional conference format where the set-piece ministerial address is followed by a speech from a leading union figure. He labelled this format "dated" and wanted it replaced with a debate modelled on the Your Education System (YES) public meeting, which took place at 17 venues over the past two months.
The Minister has now backed down on this demand. The Department insists that the new format allows for more real communication on education issues.
