Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I congratulate Senator Craughwell on bringing forward this legislation. I know he has put a lot of work into his Bill and wish him well. I am involved with a school that is the only Apple accredited school in Ireland so I know that the students use iPads on a daily basis. People can download books and use technology to learn. The pupils only use their iPads when supervised in their classrooms. A number of the publishers have condensed their schoolbooks to allow them to be downloaded. The initiative has helped students to reduce the weight of their schoolbags and they can also use the Internet for research purposes.Certainly, the school has been progressive. It started off with transition year students and introduced the iPad on a gradual basis, and now every child in the school has one.

While I accept that the smartphone operates on the same principle as the iPad, I am not 100% convinced that use of the smartphone as a learning tool is the way to go. Perhaps there has been more debate on the iPad and there is not as much temptation involved in its use. I have a concern that children would be on the phone, texting or whatever. While they use the iPad, they do not have the same accessibility if they have free use of it.

I understand the sentiments of what Senator Craughwell is trying to achieve. I believe technology should be embraced in schools and it is a valuable tool. I have a reservation regarding a phone because they could be texting, using FaceTime or whatever. There are other things that they can do on the iPad but it is more or less within the supervised environment.

When we announced that we were introducing technology to the school, there was a process that we had to go through with the parents. We brought them in on an induction night and spoke to them about the uses. Some parents had their reservations but in time they have come around to it and have seen the successes with it.

I understand the sentiments of what the Senator is trying to achieve. While there are some aspects that may be right, there are others that I would question. As the Bill progresses, I am sure we will tease out all those issues.

I welcome that the Minister has said he would like engagement with the schools and that, in turn, the schools should engage with the parents and get their opinions. At the end of the day, the schools have the children while they are in the school but the parents must be happy with what is going on as well.

In terms of the iPad, parents have access to the account at all stages. They can log in and see what their children are doing. There is a portal where the parents can log in and their children's school reports, homework and whatever is all put up on the portal.

I believe that technology has its place and that it is important. It is something that will be rolled-out to schools. I am not knocking Senator Craughwell's Bill by any means and I understand the sentiments. I just have a reservation about phone usage.