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

As is always the case when it comes to any issue, we take into account a number of factors. It is absolutely about workers' rights and ensuring that these are protected and that people have better pay, terms and conditions and security. As the person who, as Minister, brought in statutory sick pay, began the process of bringing in a living wage, protected tips and gratuities and who led a Government that brought in paternity benefit and parental leave, I hope the Deputy will accept my bona fides in that regard. There are few people in this House who can say they have done more than that in the course of their political careers to improve the rights of workers. However, we must take other things into account. This is a service. These are services people use to get takeaways delivered to their houses. We do not want to shut that down. We need to take into account the worker, the consumer and, of course, the wider economic benefits for the State.

One of the most interesting aspects of meeting the riders was actually hearing from them and not just their representatives or people who claim to represent them. The riders had different views. Some would very much like to have the status of employees. Others said - I remember the meeting well - they liked this system of working because they did not want to have a boss, did not want to be told what days they had to work and wanted to choose their own routes. Thus, there are people who want flexible working like this and who do not necessarily want to be employees.

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