Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their contributions to this debate. I understand the reasons they and the public are anxious to see action on this issue. If legislation is to be introduced to regulate ticket resale, an established procedure must be followed. This includes the preparation of a regulatory impact analysis. In Ireland, as in other countries, public consultation is an integral part of the impact analysis process. It is relatively easy to enact legislation, but it is more difficult to ensure that legislation will be effective.

Anyone who takes the time to read the consultation paper will see that the issues around ticket resale are neither simple not straightforward, as the Deputies have mentioned. The organisation of major events, and the sale or resale of tickets to those events, involves a number of parties with different interests. The record of legislative efforts to regulate ticket resale in other countries is mixed at best. Expert reviews on this issue in a number of countries, including the UK, have concluded that legislative regulation is not warranted or is unlikely to be effective. We cannot ignore these considerations in the clamour for action. My aim is to ensure whatever action is ultimately taken will make a material contribution to ensuring fairer access to tickets for consumers.

I am aware that a number of popular solutions were proposed in the document I published. Reference has been made to the possibility of making greater use of personalised and paperless tickets. It has been suggested that event organisers and primary ticket sellers could provide a facility for ticket buyers to return tickets they are unable to use and, if those tickets are resold, to be refunded at face value. Perhaps there is a need for greater readiness on the part of ticket buyers to resell tickets at face value. Greater co-operation from the secondary marketplace would help event organisers to identify people who are reselling tickets in breach of contractual prohibitions on resale and on multiple purchases.

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