Since the dawn of the Nokia 3100, ‘dummy’ phones have been used to divert and distract pesky teachers, mná an tí and parents on missions to confiscate wayward devices.

No doubt the tradition will continue despite any future roll-out of newfangled mobile phone pouches; dusty spare phones will be dug out of the junk drawers in which they're currently stashed in homes across the country and proffered up daily as decoys.

The flashpoint of Budget 2025 has well and truly delivered in the form of a €9m allocation for post-primary schools to secure specially designed pouches that will help them lock away phones for the duration of the school day.

Presented as a timely mental health initiative by the Government while simultaneously being decreed as a "scandalous" waste of public money by opposition parties, teachers’ unions have bluntly labeled the move as a distraction from the day-to-day issues blighting the education sector.

Too much screen time and teenagers' reliance on their phones is the modern parent's bogeyman, going straight to the heart of all their worst fears; mounting evidence suggests it leaves them exposed to abuse, bullying and exploitation.

Off their own initiative, a small number of post-primary schools have already introduced the mobile phone pouches and other measures such as Phoneaway boxes, as part of their efforts to seal away phones throughout the school day to quite good effect. In doing so, most sought a small financial contribution for the measure from parents.

You might be wondering how the pouches work. If you’ve been to see Tommy Tiernan live here in the past year, you'll be familiar with these new gadgets.

The comedian became the first Irish act to effectively ban phones from his show, purchasing the goods himself after seeing them in use at a Bob Dylan concert.

Once the phone is placed inside, the pouches lock themselves and can be unsealed at the end of the day with a magnet.

The most popular company to manufacture these pouches is called Yondr, which is now used in schools across 41 states in the US. Yondr was created by entrepreneur Graham Dugoni, whose inspiration for phone-free spaces came after he witnessed a drunk man at a festival filmed without his knowledge or consent.

Of the small number of schools already piloting such measures off their own initiative, many report seeing increased socialisation amongst students during the school day.

It was this increased socialisation that was cited by Education Minister Norma Foley this week as she unveiled her plans.

Lockers do not suffice in her eyes, she insisted, as they do not allow students a clear break away from the phone, as students return between classes to change their books. The research on the matter is “incontrovertible,” she said.

“Students perform better when they take a break from the mobile phone.” Here, she has a point. Increasingly, there is more evidence stacked against smartphone devices and their impact on learning.

One study recently cited by UNESCO found that even having a mobile phone with notifications coming through nearby is enough for students to lose attention from the task at hand.

It follows on from moves last November when Ms Foley announced guidelines for parents of primary school students interested in introducing collective action on smartphones in their schools.

These guidelines focus on prolonging the inevitable, by focusing on delaying access to smartphones for younger students.

In August, Ms Foley signaled her intention to introduce some form of a wider ban at post-primary level. She spoke of meeting principals who reported that mobile phones, even when kept in the bag, act as a constant interruption to study throughout the day with their continuous beeps and updates.

"It’s a continuous hum almost in the background that’s there,” the minister said.

"So basically, I’m very clear that I think we need to establish in our schools a culture of non-acceptance of the mobile phone."

Of course, while many would die of mortification to admit it, there are students who will secretly welcome the news that their access to smartphones is set to be curtailed, at least throughout the school day.

For many, they have never experienced the freedom of a time when their every move wasn’t being recorded to be shared.

That’s before you even begin to consider the plight of the young people who have been beyond unfortunate enough to be targeted by cyberbullying, the constant and oppressive nature of which is truly horrifying and hard to comprehend for those of us born prior to 2000.

It also goes without saying that on the face of it, the introduction of the pouches is likely to be a popular measure with parents. 

However, it would be remiss to not point out that a shiny new gadget such as a phone pouch may stick in the electorate's memory more come election time over more meaningful and longer-term solutions to a nebulous problem, such as firmer interrogation of the tech sector who profit by keeping kids hooked up to their phones.

And while the opposition parties may be keen to conflate the spend with bike sheds and security huts in a bid to hammer the Government on their track record in value for money, it's perhaps more pertinent to focus on what that €9m could fund instead.

Like much of Budget 2025, the focus on shiny giveaway gadgets goes some way towards placating the comfortable by robbing the few who are truly struggling of the opportunity for change.

While a tiny fraction of the Department of Education’s overall budget, €9m could have funded 150 new teachers for the 75 most disadvantaged DEIS schools in the country, as pointed out by the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO).

This could have been genuinely transformational for these schools in areas of concentrated disadvantage that deal with children day in and day out whose home life can also be deeply affected by addiction, crime and deep-rooted, inter-generational trauma.

Schools also face uncertain finances, and while they will welcome the 2025 allocation capitation grant, it remains to be seen if this will cover their running costs. 

Many schools have seen bills for heating and electricity skyrocket astronomically, forcing them to turn to their reserves, or to parents, to plug the gaps in the form of voluntary contributions.