TDs are spending too much time on their phones while in the Dáil chamber, according to the Ceann Comhairle Sean Ó Feargháil.

Mr Ó Feargháil said it is the height of bad manners for deputies to use their phones during debates.

He said politicians have an unhealthy relationship with their mobile phones, and it is something he wants to take action on.

The Fianna Fáil TD told the Irish Independent some TDs are like his teenage children, and need to be dragged away from technology.

He said: “I think politicians, in fairness, have an unhealthy relationship with their mobile phones. They are almost like my teenage children, you’d have to force them away from their equipment, whether it’s their mobile phones or iPads.

“I don’t think they need to be speaking to their constituents every second of the day.”