Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I welcome this Bill. The Sinn Féin Party and I will be supporting this legislation and are happy to see it before the Dáil. As referred to by the Tánaiste, it is an issue that I raised in the previous Dáil but unfortunately we did not solve the problem then. As such, I welcome that we are now able to move this Bill forward, albeit four years later. While I am pleased that we are moving forward with this Bill today, it should be noted that the opportunity to deal with this issue presented itself in the 32nd Dáil. Unfortunately, intransigence from the then Government and the implementation of a money message meant that in the intervening years consumers have continued to pay the price in the absence of legislation on it.

First, the Government, supported by Fianna Fáil, after initially supporting the Bill introduced an amendment on Second Stage which delayed the Bill for nine months. I introduced this Bill in March 2017 with the aim of tackling ticket touting and to protect consumers. At every opportunity, the then Government sought to delay the Bill. Fine Gael spent the past four years talking out of both sides of its mouth on this issue, demanding an end to ticket touting while actively obstructing a solution to the problem. It was delay after delay. We are, thankfully, here today and I very much welcome the Bill that has come forward.

As the Tánaiste said, in December 2020 this issue came before the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, of which I am Chairman. I acknowledge the work of the committee members on the matter. There is a cross-party consensus that this is a problem that needs to be addressed. We all acknowledge the need for steps to be taken to address the issue of above-sale-price tickets and this must be done in the interests of consumers. The committee produced a report, which the previous committee had also done in 2018 and which, in fairness, was something of a waste of time, resources and effort of all involved during a pandemic.

I will make some comments on this new Bill, which I welcome and support. The basic intention of the Bill is to prohibit the sale or advertisement of tickets above selling price. It outlines the powers that can be used by An Garda Síochána and the penalties for a breach of this Bill’s provisions. It outlines information that must be provided by primary and secondary ticket sellers and allows for exemptions for charities and amateur sports, which I very much welcome. This legislation will be good for consumers and bad for ticket touts. The crux of the Bill, and of previous incarnations of it, was and is to protect consumers and fans from overpricing. This will promote fairer access to event tickets by prohibiting the sale or advertising for sale of tickets for a price exceeding the original sale price for events taking place in designated venues with a capacity of 1,000 people or more.

We are, of course, still in a period of restriction with regard to the opening of venues and I would like to acknowledge how much of a challenge this year has been not just for the venues, but for the artists, sound technicians and other supporting staff who accompany the staging of any production, concert or similarly ticketed event. I, for one, am extremely excited about the reopening of this avenue of entertainment over the coming months. It can be anticipated that on reopening after the Covid-19 period there will be an initial period of reduced capacity at such events. However, after such a period of restrictions, we can be confident that there will be a great demand for tickets to support our cultural events across the State. This will create an obvious opportunity for the resale of tickets. As such I will contend that this legislation be enacted in advance of the reopening of that section of our economy. This is another positive step forward for accountability in the sector, in particular secondary ticketing platforms.

We would all have had people coming to us over the years having been gouged with ticket sales, especially where children could not get tickets which were on sale for a vast increase in price.

Venue operators can apply for the venue to be deemed a designated venue if it has a capacity exceeding 1,000 people and-or the operator is of the opinion that the venue will hold one or more events that would give rise to the sale of tickets by a secondary ticket seller. I mention this aspect of the Bill specifically because it is important to recognise that this designation is a convenience for monitoring.

First, above-face-value resale affects a small proportion of events and it is good practice to limit regulation where it is necessary. Second, the prohibition on the above-sale-price resale can be more effectively monitored and enforced if it is employed to events in a list of known venues.

The Bill provides enforcement powers to An Garda Síochána and other relevant authorities and outlines the level of penalties that can be imposed on those who are deemed to have breached the provisions on above-sale-price selling. This sends an important signal that there will be enforcement of this legislation, which is also welcome. The range of available penalties extend to a fine of up to €100,000 and-or imprisonment for up to two years on conviction. Hopefully, we will not have to go down that line but at least there is a penalty we can use if we need to. These possible penalties and the powers granted to An Garda Síochána in respect of search and inspection powers are powerful elements of this Bill and a strong deterrent to those who might otherwise be inclined to engage in above-sale-price ticketing.

For many of us, when we think of the above-sale-price of tickets, we think of the person outside of the GAA stadium or other venues selling tickets to fans waiting outside. While this has been an issue with consumers in the past who paid over the odds for tickets outside of venues, there are more sophisticated organisations that buy tickets on release and subsequently sell them to consumers at higher prices. This is what the Bill sets out to curb and it is something I am wholly supportive of. I hope this Bill will achieve that aim.

It is important to note that there are welcome exemptions in respect of the sale or advertising of tickets or ticket packages by charitable organisations and amateur sports. We all understand how important it is for some of those groups to use tickets like that for their fundraising efforts.

This is on the condition that the sale has been approved by the event organisers and the proceeds are used for the funding of the charity or amateur sports organisation. This is an important exemption as all Members know how difficult it is for such organisations to raise funds and the exemption ensures they can continue to use the sale of tickets as a fundraising activity.

On the issue of the competition authority, there is no doubt that there is a need for such legislation. In 2018 alone, 350 complaints relating to ticket touting were lodged with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. Each of these were lodged by individual consumers who believed they had been charged excessive prices for tickets. The figure for the first half of 2019 stood at 182 complaints. Obviously, the number of complaints in 2020 is minimal as a result of the arrival of the pandemic and the closure of venues for public health reasons. We as a country have come through and are coming through a very difficult and, for many, very lonely time of restrictions. It is to be hoped that people will be eager to return to venues when the option to do so presents itself. They should not have to pay over the odds for tickets.

In conclusion, as I mentioned at the start of my remarks, I introduced a similar Bill in 2017. Although was am extremely disappointed that the then Government stymied it at the time, I will be supporting this Bill and very much welcome it. It is important that the legislation is introduced, consumers are protected and the profiteering by secondary vendors who charge excessive prices for ticket resales is stopped. The regret, of course, is that it was not done sooner. However, here we are. My party and I will be offering our full support for the Bill.

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