Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I fully appreciate from where she is coming. I hope that the official explanation I will provide will relieve her anxiety or confirm there is no need for this amendment and that, for that reason, we are not proposing to accept it. The proposed amendments to section 17(1) and section 17(2) are unnecessary in my view. The amendment to section 17(2) is also drafted in such a way that it would not achieve its aim. The definitions amendments Nos. 1 and 2 propose to insert in section 2 are necessary only if amendments Nos. 8 and 9 to section 17 are adopted.

The purpose of the four amendments is essentially to broaden the scope of sections 17(1) and 17(2) so that the information requirements for secondary ticket sellers in section 17(1), and the obligation on secondary ticket operators in section 17(2) to ensure that secondary ticket sellers comply with these requirements, would apply to advertisements or offers for the sale of tickets or ticket packages on social media platforms and through communications media as well on secondary ticket marketplaces. The addition of a reference to social media platforms in sections 17(1) and (2) is not necessary as these platforms come within the scope of "secondary ticket marketplace" as that term is defined in section 2(1), that is, a website, online service, electronic application or print publication which provides a secondary ticket seller with a facility for the sale or advertising for sale of tickets or ticket packages, including a marketplace that also provides a facility for the sale or supply, or advertising for sale or supply, of goods or services. Like the proposed definition of social media platform, the definition of secondary ticket marketplace refers to a website and an application. It is broader than the corresponding part of the proposed definition of social media platform in that in also includes an online service. The second part of the definition of secondary ticket marketplace makes clear that the term includes marketplaces that provide a facility for the sale or supply of services or goods other than tickets.

The addition of a reference to electronic communications media in sections 17(1) and (2) is unnecessary for various reasons. Secondary ticket sellers do not advertise or offer tickets for sale on the broadcasting services and platforms that come within the scope of the proposed definition of electronic communications media. Event organisers and primary ticket sellers that sell to a wide general audience advertise widely on broadcast media but secondary ticket sellers confine their advertisements and offers to marketplaces that provide a facility for the sale of tickets and permit ticket resellers to engage directly with prospective purchasers. The broadcast media covered by the definition of electronic communications media are vehicles for general advertising and do not provide a means whereby secondary ticket sellers can engage individually with prospective buyers. The definition of secondary ticket marketplace applies already to print publications which provide a facility for the sale or advertising for sale of event tickets.

Furthermore, the amendment to section 17(2) is framed in a way that would prevent it from achieving its aim. The obligation in section 17(2) to ensure that tickets are not advertised or offered for sale without the ticket seller providing the specified information is on the secondary ticket operator. Section 2(1) defines "secondary ticket operator" as a person who, in the context of a secondary ticket marketplace, owns or manages the marketplace or is otherwise responsible for its operation, as well as a person acting for, or on behalf of, such a person.

As the definition and section 12(2) are worded, the proposed amendment to section 17(2), therefore, would not extend the obligation to ensure that the secondary ticket sellers comply with information requirements of 17(1) to the operators of social media platforms and electronic communications media.