Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On Friday of last week, the UK Supreme Court found that Uber drivers were entitled to employment protections and were not self-employed. The argument in the case, which was supported by the GMB trade union, was that these drivers were workers who were deserving of employment protections. We saw a similar announcement from the Italian courts yesterday. The UK ruling arose from the fact that there are three categories of employment status in the UK, namely, employed, employee and a hybrid status that marries the gig economy flexible model of self-employment with basic employment rights. We do not have that third category of employment in Ireland.

In my meetings and correspondence with Deliveroo, I have argued that it is not acceptable for a company to establish a business model that does not take cognisance of the different types of employment status that apply and are lawful in a country. Its business model relies, as Senator Fitzpatrick has said, on riders scrambling for deliveries to maximise their incomes during their shifts. There are accidents and in recent times we have seen a sinister development involving criminal and anti-social elements. Deliveroo's business model also facilitates unlawful working by default. Deliveroo's insistence that drivers are self-employed allows someone else to register under a driver's name on the app and carry out the work. This means people are working outside the scope of the permissions of their visas. I do not blame the drivers for doing so and I do not have an issue with it per sebecause these services are a lifeline for communities and the food businesses within them. However, this practice leads to a reluctance to come forward and report attacks when they occur. The drivers are policing the city themselves by designating areas in the city as red zones to which they will not deliver. As a consequence, the communities in question are being stigmatised and denied a service.

I have written to the Minister for Justice and consulted the Garda and Dublin City Council on this. I have highlighted to the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Varadkar, and the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy English, the feasibility of adopting the hybrid category of employment. I have looked at submissions on rights, taxation and supports and I believe we can hold companies such as Deliveroo to account. We can oblige these companies to provide supports to their workers, who are generating profits for them. We need to engage with the model of the gig economy as a new mode of working, while also ensuring we do not facilitate a race to the bottom through the exploitation of these vulnerable workers.