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The Irish government launched the testing phase of its digital wallet on Friday, which includes an age verification feature aimed at enhancing the safety of young people in the online environment. According to a statement released by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, this digital ID card will be able to support age verification to help protect children and young people from potential harm on social media platforms. Ireland is home to the European headquarters of some of the world's largest tech companies and is one of several countries considering banning minors from using social media. In January, Australia decided to ban users under 16 from creating accounts. Ireland sees social media age verification as a step towards a more widespread ban, which could include platforms operated by companies like Meta. Earlier this year, Finance Minister Simon Harris stated that the use of social media by young people constitutes a "significant public health issue" and pointed out its impact on mental health.