Norma Foley, the Education Minister, has justified her intention to allocate €9 million for phone storage pouches in secondary schools, arguing that it’s a “severe health and safety problem” for numerous students. However, Sinn Féin describes this spending as “outrageous” and an “unjustifiable” squandering of funds. The party has put forth a Dáil resolution urging the government to nullify the decision, a discussion and ballot on which is set for the following week.
Contrarily, Foley states that secure, lock-up storage alternatives such as pouches would belong to the schools and could be reused subsequently. Dividing the cost further, it approximately amounts to €20 per student for over 400,000 pupils in over 720 secondary schools.
The budget for this initiative represents less than 0.01% of the total €11.8 billion education budget, which consists of an extra €75 million for routine school operating expenses, 1,600 additional special needs assistants, 768 added Special Education Teachers and free textbooks for 940,000 students. The last phase of free textbook distribution to senior cycle students is also included, not to forget the government’s expansion of hot meals to all primary schools.
In Foley’s view, this is a significant health and safety concern impacting 400,000 juveniles, and it necessitates action rather than Sinn Féin’s inconsistent policies. A similar programme was announced in Northern Ireland by Paul Givan, the DUP Education Minister, earlier this year.
Ms Foley shared her amusement, albeit tinged with seriousness, at Sinn Féin’s take on cross-Border roaming protocol. This followed after Taoiseach Simon Harris declared that no school, principal or child would be compelled to use mobile phone pouches, costing approximately €20 per student.
Mr. Harris denied that the plan was ill-conceived, pointing out that several schools had already begun using pouches for pupils’ phones. He further criticised Sinn Féin’s seeming double standard on the matter.
In an attack on the opposing party, the Fine Gael head pointed out Sinn Féin’s embarrassment for implementing the very policy in Northern Ireland, where they hold power.
In the Northern region, an experimental phone pouch programme was launched by Mr Givan last September. Alongside this was new advice for restricting student’s use of personal mobiles during school hours.
Mr Givan revealed to the Belfast Telegraph that a budget of £250,000 had been allocated for the test run in 10 selected schools, due to kick off in 2025.
According to Stormont rules, matters of importance or those involving multiple government departments need to be approved at a four-party Executive meeting. However, this was not the case regarding the phone pouch scheme, hence the other parties-Sinn Féin, Alliance and the UUP-were not consulted for approval.
Sinn Féin has yet to officially comment on the pilot programme. They were asked to provide their views.
Naomi Long, the Minister of Justice and leader of the Alliance party, expressed her concerns about the project’s cost, citing that phones come equipped with a free off switch.