Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has had another grievance made against him to ethics watchdog SIPO.
A complaint against the Taoiseach and a number of other individuals, some of whom are also politicians, has been submitted to the Standards In Public Office commission.
It alleges potential preferential treatment by meeting with Deliveroo management more times than representatives of its workers.
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The complaint has come from the English Language Students Union (ELSU) which represents Deliveroo delivery riders.
They had one meeting with the Taoiseach two years ago but since then Deliveroo management have met with Mr Varadkar and other politicians at least 11 times.
A spokesman for Mr Varadkar confirmed to the Irish Mirror that Mr Varadkar met Deliveroo management representatives on two occasions, in May 2021 and November 2021.
It is the second time Mr Varadkar has been the subject of a complaint to SIPO. In November 2020, Solidarity TD Paul Murphy lodged a complaint that led to a probe into claims Mr Varadkar had leaked the details of an allegedly confidential €200million GP contract to a pal involved in a rival medical organisation.
The watchdog considered the grievance for a number of months before deciding it did not warrant going to the formal investigation stage.
Mr Varadkar met the ELSU and Deliveroo riders over video conference in March 2021 in the wake of the tragic deaths of Deliveroo rider Thiago Cortes and Dublin teen Josh Dunne.
The ELSU are concerned about the pay and conditions of Deliveroo riders and others working in the new gig economy.
The Taoiseach was Tanaiste and Enterprise Minister at the time and the ELSU claims he promised he would organise more meetings with the ELSU and riders, but there has been nothing since.
However, in the meantime, the official lobbying register shows Deliveroo management representatives lobbied politicians, including Mr Varadkar, at least 11 times.
A spokesman for the Taoiseach said last night: “In March 2021, Leo Varadkar hosted a virtual meeting with delivery riders, including representatives of SIPTU, the Migrants Rights Centre of Ireland, the Irish Network Against Racism and the English Language Students’ Union of Ireland.
“The main follow-up from the meeting was the issue of student visas and the Tanaiste’s office subsequently contacted Minister McEntee’s office to follow up on the matter. The employment status of delivery riders was also raised at the meeting.
“Under the auspices of Labour Employer Economic Forum, the then Tanaiste established a dedicated working group on the determination of employment status and is chaired by the Minister of State.”
The spokesman added: “He met with Deliveroo in May and again in November of that year and these meetings were recorded in the Lobbying Register.
“There were no subsequent meetings between Leo Varadkar and Deliveroo on the matter.”
The lobbying.ie return for 2021 shows Mr Varadkar met Deliveroo on two occasions in that year, in May and November. The lobbying consisted of “email letters” and “meeting with Tanaiste Leo Varadkar and officials.”
A spokeswoman for Deliveroo said: “Deliveroo takes its transparency obligations seriously and engages policy makers to defend the interests of our marketplace, riders, restaurants and grocers.”
A spokesman for SIPO said: “Due to the nature of SIPO’s role as an impartial oversight body, and in order to be fair to all parties involved, we would not be able to provide any comment regarding individual, or party, cases of compliance.”
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