Under Standing Order No. 36, I welcome the Minister for Finance. I call Deputy Pearse Doherty.

Seo Rialtas a chruthaigh arís agus arís eile go gcuireann sé airgead na gcáiníocóirí amú. Tá róchaiteachas de €1.5 billiún feicthe againn ó thaobh Ospidéal Náisiúnta na Leanaí. Chaith an Rialtas €336,000 ar shed na rothar, €1.4 milliún don bhothán slándála agus sa sampla is moille den Rialtas ag cur airgead na gcáiníocóirí amú, tá sé i gceist ag an Rialtas €9 milliún a chaitheamh ar pouches do ghutháin phóca. Tá gnáthdhaoine na tíre seo ag ceistiú má tá an plot caillte ag an Rialtas seo. Seo sampla eile de Rialtas nach féidir linn muinín a bheith againn ann ó thaobh airgead na gcáiníocóirí a chaitheamh mar is ceart.

This is a Government that has proven time and again that it plays fast and loose with taxpayers' hard-earned money. We have seen an overspend of €1.5 billion in respect of the National Children's Hospital. The Government has spent €336,000 on the bike shed, €1.4 million on the security hut and in the budget on Tuesday, we saw the latest example of the waste of taxpayer money when the Government announced it would spend €9 million on phone pouches. The ordinary people of Ireland are asking has this Government lost the plot. This is another example of a Government that cannot be trusted with taxpayers' money. When the Minister for Finance sat at the Cabinet table and made this decision, did not one person put their hand up and ask whether the money should be spent on the 100 children with additional needs who still do not have a school place at this point? Did not one Government Minister at the table say that the money should be spent on increasing capitation funding so that schools can actually cover their lighting and heating bills? Did nobody at the Cabinet table put up their hands and say why do we not just ask the kids to leave their phones in their bags? Spending €9 million on phone pouches is grotesque. It is inexcusable, particularly at a time when Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have underfunded our schools across the State, with many schools - most of them - struggling to pay electricity and heating costs.

Budgets, as the Minister knows, are all about choices. When the Government chooses to underfund our schools for the basics, it is the parents who pick up the tab. We see this right across the State, with cake sales, race nights, 5km events and voluntary contributions, all to raise money to keep the lights on and pay the bills. If there were ever an example of political parties being in power for far too long drifting further and further out of touch with the realities on the ground, it is the Tánaiste, when he took to social media this week championing the fact the Government is spending €9 million on phone pouches. You could not make this up. Minister, stop the waste. Unlike the bike shed or the €1.4 million security hut, this money has not yet been wasted. Will the Minister please see sense, announce to the people of Ireland that the Government is not going to waste €9 million on phone pouches, and instead put that money into schools so we can pay for the lights, electricity costs, heating costs and other costs that those schools need?

Hear, hear.

The Minister, Deputy Foley, announced details of an unprecedented education budget of €11.8 billion. Part of the €9 million which has been allocated for new mobile phone pouches to support schools is to implement a policy which is about mental health, well-being and the dignity of children. Deputy Doherty should never play politics when it comes to the mental health of young people-----

It is a cover up.

-----or of children in schools in our communities.

Hear, hear.

The investment in children's welfare, mental health and dignity at school is never a waste of money. If this helps one young person in a school who has had difficulties, for example, with the use of mobile phones in schools, is it not a progressive and practical initiative to help support young people and their learning in schools? This policy is underpinned by clear evidence internationally. The UN and many European and other jurisdictions are demonstrating that this a research-based initiative. The initiative is supported by parents of children all over our country, building on the success of the Keeping Childhood Smartphone Free initiative.

As the Minister, Deputy Foley, outlined this week, schools will have the authority to decide what phone storage options they will have. The international research on smartphones is incontrovertible and clearly demonstrates that students perform better when they take a break from their mobile phones. We are ensuring that students have a break away from their mobile phones to help their learning and their well-being in schools. Deputy Doherty should not play populist, shallow and divisive politics when it comes to the mental health of young people.

Nonsense.

That is the purpose of this investment. If you take it in the context of our wider investment in education through this budget, we are investing €2.9 billion in special education, we are extending the provision of free schoolbooks to all students in the senior cycle and a €75 million increase to capitation funding. The Minister, Deputy Foley, has secured that but she is also cognisant of the concerns of parents across the country when it comes to the use of smartphones in schools. This is a practical measure to give effect to the policy which has been introduced in jurisdictions across the world. It is a great pity that Sinn Féin will not take the time to study this initiative before going to its stock position which is to attack everything. Anger and attack is Sinn Féin's policy, not constructive politics and trying to give a practical outworking of a solution when it comes to the use of mobile phones in schools. Has Sinn Féin listened to the parents whose children have been impacted-----

We did, yes.

-----by the enormous damage caused by smartphone use during the day? This will make an impact and a difference. We should never play politics when it comes to the investment in our young people and in initiatives that will help their mental health and well-being. That is what is at the centre of this initiative that the Minister, Deputy Foley, has sought to do.

Is the Minister for real? Seriously? Talk to any parent out there who has a child with mental health difficulties and show me one of them who says their priority, instead of getting somebody who will help them, is getting a magnetic phone pouch that is going to cost the State €9 million?

Hear, hear.

The Minister's Government has underfunded mental health for years. Do not try and wrap this vanity project up as some of way of supporting hard-pressed parents who know that their children are being let down over and over again. If the Minister wants to ban mobile phones, tell the kids to leave them in their pockets. Do not spend €9 million on pouches. It makes no sense at a time when schools are struggling and when mental health services are struggling. The Government has dressed this up as something that it is not. Does the Minister seriously think that any child who is self-harming at this point in time, who cannot get support from the mental health services - where they are underfunded across the State - that the priority for their parents is a phone pouch? The Minister is living in cloud cuckoo land if he genuinely believes this. Just like the bike shed and security hut, stop the waste. Fund proper services.

Thank you, Deputy.

Put the €9 million, if you want, into the services that parents are demanding and screaming out for with regard to mental health supports.

Thank you, Deputy.

We need therapists, people who can see them, instead of waiting not only for months, but in some cases for years to see a practitioner.

Hear, hear.

Again, Sinn Féin's populist politics is driven by anger, with a shallow attack on an initiative that will make a difference. This is part of a wider well-being and mental health policy in schools. If Deputy Doherty looked at all the international research from the UN and others, this makes a difference when it is being introduced.

You have not said anything about-----

Smartphone bans in schools have an impact on young people's mental health.

Do not spend €9 million.

As I said previously, an investment in children's welfare, in their mental health and well-being in schools is not a waste of money.

The Minister is not talking about the phone pouches.

The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is beside me. She has secured record funding over the last five years - a 43% increase in funding for our mental health services across the country. We are supporting the improved recruitment within our mental health services in community health organisations across our country. Complementing this initiative is an unprecedented investment in our health system to support the growth of our mental health services. Sinn Féin should not go back to its stock position of attacking initiatives which will make a difference.

It is waste. I will attack waste every single day.

Please, Deputy.

Sinn Féin is a party that looks to spend day in day out. In all budgetary positions outlined in the pre-budget submissions, it is a party policy defined by more spending on everything.

Not waste, not the bike sheds, or the phone pouches.

In fact, that is Sinn Féin's pre-budget submission on all issues.

It is high spending. This is a policy to protect children, to protect their mental health and well-being in schools. It is disappointing to see Sinn Féin attack an initiative that will make a difference.