Government minister still backs smartphone ban for under-14s

A government minister has proposed plans to ban children under the age of 14 from owning smartphones and having unrestricted access to the Internet, the Sunday Business Post reports.

Jim Daly, minister of state for mental health and older people, wrote in a letter last summer that he is “still very anxious” to introduce a controversial law he drafted as a backbencher.

His proposed Internet Access for Minors Bill would introduce fines of up to €100 for parents who allow their children to own smartphones or have unrestricted Internet access, or retailers who sell phones to kids.

His continued support for the measures is set out in a letter just released under Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation.

In the letter, sent to Department of Health secretary general Jim Breslin last July and copied to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Mr Daly wrote: “I am still very anxious to progress this initiative and I would appreciate your advice in relation to same.

“I would like to propose heads of bill to government and I wonder what scope might be available to me within my department, in conjunction with Minister Naughton at the department of communications, to develop such heads.”