Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I worked on this issue during my previous role as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I met with delivery riders and some of their representatives, trade union groups and others, at my request. I also met with the main company involved. Under the auspices of the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF, we established a dedicated working group on the determination of employment status which includes representatives from unions and employers. This working group has met three times and is now chaired by the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Richmond. A revised code of practice on determining employment status was published in July of 2021 by the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys. The code is the guidance document for employers, workers and others in relation to deciding the employment status of a worker. It was revised to take account of new labour market developments, including platform work.

Of particular interest to the Deputy may be the fact that ministers for employment and social affairs agreed on a European general approach to a new European directive to improve working conditions for platform workers. The European Council is now ready to start negotiations on this with the European Parliament. Under the European Council's general approach, which Ireland supports, workers will be legally presumed to be employees of a digital platform, not self-employed, if their relationship fulfils certain criteria as set out in the directive.

On student visas, the rules in Ireland are that students are allowed to work 20 hours a week and no more. Those rules are there to protect them from exploitation. We want students to be studying, not working, for most of their time. We have work permits and work visas which allow people to work a 48-hour week on average but student visas are for students. I do not want students coming here and ending up working full-time and not being able to study.

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