Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I bring good news today. I commend the Minister, Deputy Foley, on bringing a memo to the Cabinet this morning for Cabinet approval of the guidelines to be issued to schools in support of a voluntary ban on the purchase of smartphones for children in primary schools. The Minister has very rightly done the maximum she can do in making schools a conduit to support parents in saying "No" to their children and ensuring that none of the other children in their peer group have a smart phone. No parent wants their child to be excluded from WhatsApp groups and all of the politics of these groups, which even we as adults find difficult at times. However, children under the age of 12 do not have the maturity and the ability to pull themselves out of all the politics. A smartphone is a fantastic device for emails. We all do our business on it, as can be seen with us here. However, it also has all the negative things in the world in it. It is too personal and too private a device for an immature child to have in their hands and have access to. I have called for this measure since the spring of this year to say we need to not have smartphones for children. I have gone further and written to Coimisiún na Meán to ask that it champions this issue and brings it further because the Minister has brought it to the limit of what she can do. I commend her. It is a great move and I am delighted it has happened.