Dublin's Deliveroo riders deserve better protection from their employer and on the city's streets after providing an 'invaluable service' during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That's according to Fianna Fail Senator Mary Fitzpatrick, who believes a swift response is needed after a rise in incidents involving the delivery cyclists in her native north inner city.
She said: “During the pandemic we’ve all become more reliant on home deliveries and Deliveroo workers have brought us all our favourite take away and groceries and other deliveries to the comfort of our home or places of work.
"It’s been an invaluable service throughout the pandemic.
“Unfortunately, Deliveroo workers have also become real targets of serious antisocial behaviour and violence on the streets of our inner city.
“It’s completely unacceptable and all of the community of the inner city are very upset over this.
"We are working with the Gardaí and the Deliveroo workers and community activists to try and address it.
“We’re a really diverse community here in the North inner city, probably the most diverse community in the whole country.
"Everyone regardless of their nationality, sex or occupation should be able to expect to live and work in Dublin’s north inner city without fear of violence."
Senator Fitzpatrick also raised the issue of their terms of employment, which she claims offers the workers very little protections or rights that other workers enjoy.
The Senator added, “Separately there is an issue around the terms of their employment.
"It’s very precarious in its nature.
"It affords them little or no protections and little or none of the basic employment rights that one would expect.
“I’m going to continue to work with the Deliveroo workers, the Gardaí and all of the community stakeholders to ensure that the inner city is a safer place for us all to live and work.”
The takeaway app sought a meeting with the Gardai after a spate of attack on its workers in Dublin at the start of the month.
Riders claimed they were regularly threatened with knives while making deliveries around the city centre.
Deliveroo rider Lucas, from Sao Paulo, said: "We are facing too many attacks from teenagers.
"They try stealing our bicycle and hit you with some things and we don't know why it happens because we are just working."
He told RTE's Today with Claire Byrne: "Three weeks ago I was delivering in Dublin 8 and 15-20 guys tried to stop my bike.
"I was very, very, very nervous. I could escape but I have some friends and they couldn't and they lost their bikes."
The cyclists have had everything from rocks, eggs to bottles and fireworks thrown at them.
Gardai have implemented an enhanced stop and search regime to tackle increasing knife crime in the north inner city.
The new policing tactics have seen a team of gardai who have been tasked with finding dangerous weapons being carried in the area.
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