The Department of Education expects up to 50 secondary schools to avail of a new service aimed at tackling unruly pupil behaviour, in part through the use of so-called "sin bins".
However, while a number of schools have expressed an interest in the new national behaviour support service, it has not been decided which schools will be covered by the service.
This is because schools have not yet formally applied for the service, which is due to be available from next term but which is in the process of recruiting staff, according to a spokeswoman for the department.
She said the fact that a school had to identify itself as having a discipline problem in order to avail of the service did not mean some schools would be less likely to "label" themselves in this way.
"It is not about labelling schools. The whole idea is that if a school is experiencing problems it can receive support."
However, the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) has warned that "serious differences of opinion" remained between it and the Department of Education over the scale of the discipline crisis in second-level schools.
Welcoming the announcement on Thursday by Minister for Education Mary Hanafin of the establishment of the service, TUI assistant general secretary Declan Glynn said there would soon be a need for extra resources to support the work of the new body. He added that only a "tiny fraction" of the school-going population would be served by the new body.
Ms Hanafin said the new service would lead to the introduction of "behavioural support classrooms" - known as "sin bins" - for seriously disruptive pupils.
This would enable such students to "leave the classroom setting and professionals work with them with a view to reintegrating them back into the mainstream system". She said the role of the behaviour support teams would range from diagnosis of problems to assistance with remediation.
Headed by Mary Keane, principal of St Dominic's College in Cabra, Dublin, the multi-disciplinary service will operate in four teams based in Dublin, the northwest, south and midlands/east.
The service will operate from the Navan Education Centre.
Ms Keane will be supported by four assistant co-ordinators, nine regional development officers and 20 associate regional development officers.