Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht an cheist thábhachtach seo a ardú. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, is the independent statutory body that enforces competition and consumer protection law under the remit of our Department. It continues to promote and monitor compliance with competition and consumer protection laws across all sectors of the market, including ticket sales, and to investigate potential breaches, prohibited practices and offences.

With regard to concerns of concert ticket sales recently, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Burke, has asked the CCPC to report on its review of pricing strategies employed on this occasion. In response, the CCPC has advised there are legitimate concerns about consumer experiences of buying concert tickets on 31 August and it has opened an investigation into the matter. The CCPC will take appropriate action if consumer protection law has been broken. We will respect the independent nature of this investigation and await its outcome. The outcome of the investigation will inform the consideration of any possible policy amendments.

We also engage regularly with the hotel industry. The Hospitality and Tourism Forum, which the Minister, Deputy Burke, co-chairs with the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, provides a platform for structured engagement with the tourism and hospitality sectors. The forum recently met on 12 June.

Regarding hotel pricing, Fáilte Ireland published research earlier this year that it commissioned on hotel pricing in Dublin. It confirmed that by comparison to similar destinations, including Edinburgh and Amsterdam, Dublin hotels were broadly in line with average daily rates and levels of operating margin.

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