Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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156. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment given the requirement to transpose Directive (EU) 2024/2831 on improving working conditions in platform work by December 2026, to outline the plans for implementation; and set out the expected impacts of this Directive on the food-delivery and courier sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66395/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Improving Working Conditions in Platform Work Directive entered into force on 1 December 2024. EU Member States have until 2 December 2026 to transpose the Directive into national law.

The Directive is complex and wide ranging. It seeks to ensure people working though digital labour platforms have the correct legal employment status that corresponds to their actual working arrangements, enabling them to benefit from the employment rights they are entitled to.

The Directive also aims to regulate the use of algorithms by digital labour platforms. The Directive will make the use of algorithms in human resources management in platform work more transparent, ensuring that automated systems are monitored by qualified staff, and that workers have the right to contest automated decisions. The Directive also imposes substantial limitations on the processing of personal data by these systems.

The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment has recently completed consultations with Government Departments, and the public consultation process has also concluded. This consultation received submissions from a wide range of stakeholders, including digital labour platform operators, trade unions, employer bodies, and civil society organisations. Department officials have maintained ongoing dialogue with relevant stakeholders in 2025 and this will be maintained throughout 2026.

My Department is also represented at the EU Official Expert Group on the Transposition of the Directive which has been established by the European Commission. This Group has met seven times to date and will meet a final time in December to approve the report. The Group will issue a final report on transposition by the end of 2025 which will be an important source of guidance for Member States.

In the coming weeks, the Department will convene a transposition forum with relevant government stakeholders to review the public consultation outcomes and discuss transposition measures. Once these measures have been fully considered by all relevant government stakeholders, the Department will set out a clear and definitive legislative pathway. Work on the transposition of the Platform Work Directive remains ongoing, and The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment are committed to progressing it without delay.