Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

A number of Bills have been put forward on ticket touting over the years. There is cross-party support on progressing this legislation, as there was in respect of previous legislation. It is welcome to see this before the House and that the Government has committed to enacting this legislation, hopefully prior to the reopening of live events.

Everyone has felt the absence of sports, music and live events in terms of normal activity over the past year or so. The industry has suffered immensely during the pandemic and has done its best at every turn to adapt to the circumstances and provide alternatives to its audiences and workers. With so much time spent at home during lockdowns, we have turned to the arts, entertainment and sports industries to see us through the monotony of days stuck indoors. It was an experience which drove home the importance of the industry, not just for employment and revenue but for the joy and excitement it brings to all our lives. Arts and culture have always been at the heart of Irish society. They are tied intrinsically to our perception of what Ireland is.

When we are lucky enough to reopen live events, there is no doubt but that there will be incredibly high demand for tickets. Given that venue capacity will be limited, there is no possibility of supply reaching demand. It will be a prime market for ticket touts. We cannot face a situation where the only people in attendance at live events are those who can pay inflated prices. Live events are already quite expensive in Ireland in comparison to other European countries and it is essential that access to the arts, sports and entertainment is available to everyone. To ensure there is no wealth barrier to accessing these events, ticket touting must be tackled.

The reality of modern-day touting is not just a seller on the street with a handful of tickets. It is an international market utilising bots to mass purchase hundreds of tickets for the most popular events the instant they go on sale. Some sellers are making millions and regular buyers do not stand a chance. True fans of artists and sporting teams miss out or pay ridiculous sums of money for the experience of watching their favourite acts or players in person, while others profit from the lack of supply they have created. Festival organisers in the UK face this problem at present with ticket touts snapping up tickets in high demand, so it is not just here. The Guardianlooked at listings for festival tickets on a couple of sites and found just over a hundred tickets on sale for a combined value of £65,000. A ticket for the Creamfields festival was on sale for £800, where the face value was £100. There is a pent-up demand for live events and regulation has to be in place to tackle the inevitable exploitation of fans will be desperate to attend.

In the context of Covid, there is another element to consider, namely, contact tracing. While we have not yet worked out how the reopening of life events will work, and hopefully that will happen soon, it stands to reason we will have some contact tracing mechanisms by which live events must abide. In the UK, festival organisers are asked to keep attendees' details for 21 days after the event to assist in contact tracing. Should we have something similar? Ticket resale will make this particularly difficult.

While this Bill is aimed at ensuring consumers pay a fair price for tickets, it would be remiss to discuss it without acknowledging the hardship faced by workers in the live events and entertainment industry since March of last year. Our domestic events and entertainment industry employs around 35,000 workers, most of whom have not had an opportunity to work since March of last year. The hundreds of theatres, sports grounds, clubs, festivals and venues across the country were the first industry to shut down and, most likely, will be the last to open up.

Annually, the sector contributes something like €3.5 billion to the national economy. It is estimated that for every euro spent on a ticket, €6 is spent in the wider tourism economy. The eventual return of live sports and events will not be a boost to that sector alone but to taxis, restaurants, private bus companies, hotels and so on. That is not to mention the boost to the morale of the country when we can gather together. It will be a challenge to this sector because I have heard from people like sound engineers and those involved on a self-employed basis who have had to sell their equipment to pay the mortgage.

Some of the challenges are yet to play out. Some of the individuals affected have not received any support other than the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, because they do not have a business premises and operate from home or from a vehicle. That will be a challenge. Consideration must be given to how people can be supported to get back to using their expertise to make a living, as many were doing for years.

The Social Democrats support the legislation but a number of areas in the Bill could be strengthened on Committee Stage. There are a wide variety of venue types and operators in the country. The definitions in the Bill must be examined more closely to provide for temporary venue structures and events with multiple venues as well as cases where the venue operator may not be the primary party in making the decision to opt in. The legislation deals primarily with secondary ticket sellers. Has an examination been done of how the Bill will impact on the behaviour of large primary ticket sellers? Regardless of who the seller is, consumers need to know the total number of tickets available for sale by a ticket provider and an accurate number of tickets remaining.

The Tánaiste dealt with Euro 2020. I did not understand why that event was still included but I now accept that it make sense given that a commitment has been made and people will still be going to the event wherever it is held.

The Government has stated that it intended to include a provision prohibiting the use of bot software to purchase tickets but withdrew it on the basis that a European directive on this matter will be introduced early this year. Does the Tánaiste have an update on when he expects the directive to be brought to the House and in what form? Will it be brought into effect before many events are expected to resume?

While this Bill will make great strides in regulating the ticket resale market, international examples have shown that there is a difficulty applying regulations to offshore platforms. We must take great care to avoid circumstances in which events open up after a long absence and ticket resale sites based offshore are able to grab large quantities of tickets using bots and sell them at inflated prices without any repercussions.

This is very welcome legislation and I hope it will pass Committee and Remaining Stages very quickly.

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