Homework should be banned for primary school children, according to a newly elected Green Party TD.

Dublin Central TD Neasa Hourigan said children should allowed go to the park or watch TV after school rather than spend hours doing homework.

Speaking to Independent.ie's Floating Voter podcast, Ms Hourigan said "parents hate homework" and insisted she is "not convinced" it benefits young children.

"Your kids come home, they're tired, they've had a lot to do in the day and then they get a lot of homework and you really want them to have a snack and chill out," she said.

"They just need time off but they have to go straight into an hour and half of homework and that's not great for them and it's not great for family life either. I'd prefer to bring them to the park or do something that's not learning," she added.

Ms Hourigan said some Scandinavian countries have ditched homework for primary school children.

The new TD said she has "really high hopes" for her children academically, especially her seven year old daughter who is blind and partially deaf.

“I have massively high hopes for her in terms of her academia but I don't think that means we have to stick to the old ways of doing things,” she said.

“I think the whole homework thing is something we should be talking about more. I'm not convinced that it really helps that much,” she added.