Funding available for schools to procure mobile phone storage, department says

A spokesperson said  a 'new procurement process will be published in the coming weeks'

The department of education last week issued a notice that despite receiving 12 tenders, the competition was to be cancelled without a winner. File picture

The department of education says it will re-tender for a central contract to supply mobile phone pouches in the coming weeks, but that schools will be able to purchase their own.

Controversy surrounded the Government announcement of a €9m spend on specially designed pouches to lock away teenagers’ phones in an initiative to ban smartphones in post-primary schools in last year's budget, but the Government had insisted the funding would provide value.

A tender for the central provision of the pouches was published in January putting a cost of €7.3m on secure portable pouches "of a high quality and designed to fit all makes and models of mobile phones".

The pouches were also to be "durable to sustain the challenges of daily school use; be water resistant, made from non-irritable materials, be portable and light-weight and be lockable to prevent tampering, damage, and breakage".

However, the department of education last week issued a notice that despite receiving 12 tenders, the competition was to be cancelled without a winner.

The department told The Irish Examiner that it will "soon issue guidance to assist schools to develop their policy approach to student mobile phone use during the school day".

Schools will also be told how to apply for funding for pouches themselves, though they are not obliged to apply for this funding.

"Schools will be able to use this funding towards the storage solution of their choice. Some examples already being used in schools include: Lockable storage solutions and collecting phones at the school office," a spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that a "new procurement process will be published in the coming weeks" and the central procurement arrangement will be available to schools in Autumn 2025.

"This will not delay schools in applying for and accessing funding for phone storage solutions, which will be open to schools soon," they said.