Social affairs ministry inspectors have urged the government to ban the under-16s from delivering meals for snack bars and restaurants because the rules are being widely flouted.

Delivery firms are switching from mopeds to electric bikes which don’t need a licence, and this is one reason why restaurants and snack bars are using younger delivery boys, the inspectors say. They are also cheaper to employ. The minimum wage for a 15-year-old is €3.19 for a 36-hour week.

Inspectors visited 178 restaurants which had their own delivery workers and found 107 were breaking the rules. Workers were either too young, working too-long hours or were being underpaid.

Fifteen year olds are not allowed to work for more than two hours a day or 12 hours a week, and can only work between 7am and 7pm.

Meal delivery services like Deliveroo and Uber Eats already have a minimum age of 16.