Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Let me continue. I do not think that Mr. Cox has realised that ticket sales is a significant issue. In some cases tickets are sold out in a very short space of time. I know because I have bought tickets and attended many concerts, as have family members. Sometimes it takes as long as 20 minutes or even an hour for all of the tickets to be sold and people are left disappointed. Some of them may not have proper Internet access or the necessary high-speed Internet access. However, within an hour or less those tickets will be on sale online but at an inflated price.

Coupled with that, people may be unable to afford to buy the ticket on the secondary site. Without doubt, on their way to the concert venue on the day they will encounter touts selling tickets and that applies to the All-Ireland GAA finals, U2, Coldplay, Pink Floyd or whoever. The witnesses seem to have adopted a simplistic view on the matter because they have dissected the Bill brought forward by Deputy Quinlivan.

I contend that there is an issue with tickets that must be dealt with and I compliment any Deputy who goes to the bother of trying to deal with this issue. I know that when there is an issue with ticket sales the matter will be discussed on the airwaves for 48 hours. Many people will telephone Joe Duffy's radio show to complain that they could not buy tickets but they are available somewhere else.

I feel that the witnesses have adopted a simplistic approach to the issue. I can attest to the fact that there is a major issue with ticket sales. Ordinary people work hard and they want to buy a ticket. I understand that there is a capacity demand mismatch for a lot of events. We understand that there are never enough tickets to go around when one's county has qualified to participate in an All-Ireland GAA final. However, it is very frustrating to see tickets being offered for sale at an inflated price on a secondary site only an hour after they have been released for sale. Therefore, legislation that tries to deal with the matter is welcome.