A survey of teachers across the country has reportedly found that more than 26,000 primary-school pupils may have undiagnosed mental-health problems.
The study by RTÉ's Prime Time and the Irish National Teachers Organisation questioned 203 teachers with a total of 4,600 pupils in their care.
Reports this morning say 6% of these children have been diagnosed with a mental-health problem, but around the same number are believed to have undiagnosed psychiatric problems.
Just over half of the classes involved had at least one child with a diagnosed problem, the most common being attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Almost three quarters of the teachers surveyed said their classes had been disrupted by pupils with mental-health problems.