At a special INTO conference in Tullamore over the weekend to address the growing menace of bullying in schools, the survey showed that 44% of primary teachers had complained of being "undermined, intimidated, ignored, publicly humiliated and shouted at" by fellow teachers. Physical, sexual and verbal abuse and the threat of dismissal were cited as the most common forms of bullying.

And the survey shows that in the absence of any government action, bullying in Irish schools has got worse since the last INTO survey nine years ago.

In the current survey, 11% of the teachers surveyed said bullying forced them to leave their school - a significant increase on the eight per cent who said likewise according to the 1998 survey. Similarly, an additional 19% of teachers in the current survey said they had considered leaving the school as a result of bullying, an increase of three per cent since 1998.

Stress, depression, low self-esteem and lack of motivation were the most common effects of such bullying, according to the survey, with most teachers taking sick leave or missing days.

One male teacher at the INTO conference, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Sunday Tribune that repeated bullying from his principal had forced him out on sick leave for two months. He dropped two stone in weight during that period.

"I took on additional managerial duties but as the school expanded I found I could not cope. The principal told me there was no money to hire extra staff to help me and I was forced to continue. I suffered from stress and eventually my doctor told me to take sick leave, " explained the teacher.

"The principal then repeatedly phoned me at home demanding that I return to the school even though I was on certified sick leave. He also made efforts to have my pay stopped and threatened to sack me.

"It is hard for people who have never been bullied to appreciate what it can do to you, " said the teacher, who returned to confront the principal. "Bullying is not about personality clashes but the inadequacies of the bully who takes it out on others, " he said.

"When confronted, most bullies back off but people should make sure they have support before confronting a bully. My principal has left me alone since but he has turned on the other staff and there is still a climate of fear in the school, " he said.

"Existing measures to tackle the problem of workplace bullying are totally inadequate, " INTO general secretary John Carr told the conference.

Carr called for the "immediate implementation" of the recommendations of the report by the government's own expert advisory group on workplace bullying.

This report was shelved in 2005 by junior enterprise minister Tony Killeen after employers strongly objected to the Labour Court being allowed to make a binding decision against an employer over bullying complaints.

Currently, the only real option open to bullied workers is to resign and then take a constructive dismissal claim to a rights commissioner or the Labour Court.

"The Employment Appeals Tribunal or the Labour Court should, in cases of bullying, be able to issue binding and enforceable decisions through the courts if necessary, " demanded Carr.

Tony Killeen, who addressed the conference and is a former primary-school teacher, said he will await the results of a national ESRI survey on bullying before taking any action. "Workplace bullying is a psychological form of abuse perpetrated by people who target others in order to cover and hide their own inadequacies, " Jacinta Kitt, a consultant specialising in workplace relations, told the conference.

"There are still some schools that dismiss workplace bullying as a figment of weak and timid people's imagination. By their attitude, these schools effectively tolerate, condone and/or promote bullying, " warned Kitt.