Wake up babe, a new version of the bike shed just dropped x

The government hasn’t had the best reputation for spending wisely lately. Less than a month ago, government officials came under fire after it was revealed that €322,282 of public money had been used to build a bike shed at Leinster House. In the latest round of seemingly random spending, the government has announced, as part of the 2025 budget, that they will allocate over €9 million for phone pouches in schools.

So, why phone pouches? The budget allocation is part of an effort to ban phones in secondary schools. The pouches are intended to store students’ phones during school hours. However, questions have been raised about the necessity of such a significant spend, especially when schools weren’t actively calling for this storage solution.

The government have defended the scheme, claiming that it was in place to protect children’s mental health. Finance Minister Jack Chambers stated, “you should never play politics when it comes to the mental health of young people, of children in schools across our communities. The investment in children’s welfare, in mental health, in dignity at school, is never a waste of money.”

However, the government has been criticised by opposition parties, who claim there are far more effective ways to prioritise children’s mental health than phone pouches. Sinn Féin TD Daniel Doherty has described it as a “scandalous waste of public money at a time when so many schools are struggling to pay for heating and to keep the lights on”, pointing to the governments underfunding of schools over the years.

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