The Minister for Education has warned that frontline services will be hit if the Croke Park 2 proposals are rejected by unions.
Ruairi Quinn has received a stony silence from delegates at the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) conference in Galway.
Earlier members voted in favour of a motion calling for a ballot on industrial action up to and including a strike if Croke Park 2 is implemented.
This morning the TUI debated the reform of the Junior Certificate which would see school-based assessment rather than the current State exam.
'Increased workload for no extra pay'
Delegates are opposed to the change which they say will lead to an increased workload for teachers for no extra pay as Mary Higgins of the Co. Laois branch explained.
"School-based assessment is a step too far" she said. "We are already already trying to grapple with the literacy and numeracy strategies, the Project Maths, the self-evaluation and the pressure resulting from all the different varieties of inspections".
"This is about our workload - it is about being asked to do more work without pay" she added.
Speaking after his address Minister Quinn said there is only one place left to go if Croke Park 2 is rejected by all unions later this month and that is frontline services.
