Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for taking the time today to be with us in the Seanad. I also thank my colleague, Senator Seery Kearney, for this excellent motion and her dedication to the protection of children.

I will focus on three points. The first is the ubiquity of smartphones. Smartphones have reached into everyone's life, home and pocket. How do we control something as prevalent as smartphone use? It is hard to take action on anything that overwhelms us, like smartphone use does.

The second point is that it is important to understand the dilemma and mindset for parents when it comes to saying "No" to a smartphone for their children. They are trying to balance two things. They do not want their child to be the odd one out or to be different from their peers, but they also want to keep them safe.

The third point is that it is human nature to avoid something that you do not fully understand, if you have not fully got to grips with it. They might niggle us and worry us but we can put them to the back of our minds when the debate on "Drivetime" or Ciara Kelly's show is over. However, in all honesty, I think today is the day we say we cannot do that any more, that this is difficult to think about but, collectively, we must do it. It is difficult to act on but by acting together, collectively, we can do something about this, because we have to.

The digital age has entirely changed the way our children interact with one another and learn. As has been said, there are many benefits, especially in assistive technology. It can calm a lot of children, regulate behaviour, and we have an explosion of information at our fingertips. However, we must also set out in unfiltered, straight-talking, scene-setting ways, the effects that smartphones have on our kids.

Coimisiún na Meán recently published a report highlighting the harmful impacts of video-sharing platforms. It has been well said today but I will say it again, a quarter of six-year olds in Ireland have their own smartphone and 45% of ten-year olds are allowed unfettered access to devices in their bedroom. Reports from the UK suggest that 97% of children possess a smartphone by the age of 12. Smartphones are linked with cyberbullying, social isolation and anxiety. They have algorithms that effectively promote eating disorders, self-harm, and even suicide among young children. We cannot underestimate the toxicity of these platforms and the detrimental effect they are having, even when we consider their benefits.

I spoke to teachers this week in primary schools about the repercussions they are dealing with. This lands on their desk when kids are bullied outside of school on smartphones, but also by kids in other schools with smartphones. That is the extent to which teachers are having to deal with this on a weekly basis. Some 90% of the bullying that is happening now in primary schools, according to some of the teachers I spoke to, is happening online. Teachers have enough to do and are under enough stress. We are dealing with a shortage of teachers and a growing list of issues to be addressed in SPHE.

France, Finland, the Netherlands and Italy have already banned the use of smartphones in schools. I agree with this motion, but I think we have to go further. The Minister referred to what parents might feel and whether they will agree. Let us consult them on this issue. I have been surprised myself at meetings in public forums when parents say they agree with that. They say it would be difficult, but we are going to do this and we have to do it together. I implore the Minister to be brave about this initiative and if public consultation is needed then we should do it. Much of what children do with phones, with which their parents provide them, can be done with a regular phone. They do not need smartphones in order to do that.

When it comes to the digital age of consent, I think people get frustrated with us when we respond by saying it is a data protection issue. I know the Minister says she is covering it in the online safety code and through the EU, as we should, but while we need to enforce it, we must also have the supports available for younger children who are susceptible. We need a public awareness campaign. This is a public health issue. We do need to set out the effects in an unfiltered way and what we propose to do about it.

On the suggested imposition of stricter regulations on the marketing and accessibility of apps, it is fantastic that the Minister is doing that through the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act, but this is like a tap. We can deal with the impact of behaviour but we also need to look at switching off the tap, because if we do not switch off the tap by imposing a ban on ownership and regulations about the age of consent, we are going to deal with a tsunami of mental health issues.