Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sure everybody is aware of the recent controversy about the Garth Brooks concerts.

What has happened is rare because an artist like Garth Brooks would rarely attempt to do five shows at a venue such as Croke Park. However, there is an urgent need to amend the outdoor licensing process to ensure that events for which more than 10,000 tickets are sold to people obtain a licence prior to tickets going on sale. We do not want to discourage artists like Garth Brooks from coming to Ireland but it takes a rare case to highlight the inadequacies in a system. Obtaining a licence for concerts such as these is a complicated system, and the council has major concerns to do with safety. I speak from a legal point of view as I have defended many cases on behalf of music organisations. People do suffer significant injury, and it is only when that happens it is realised that the process gone through to ensure safety is so important. The case has highlighted some problem with the system, despite the good intentions of the people trying to carry out the process. Councils, residents, promoters and all stakeholders would need to engage in a transparent process prior to tickets going on sale. The main difficulty is that 400,000 tickets were sold for an event without a licence. That has always been the way it occurs but it is difficult to believe it has been allowed continue like that for so long when the statutory instrument that applies to it is from 2001. I will discuss with my colleagues in Fine Gael the possibility of tabling an amendment to that legislation to the effect that these events could be promoted but that the tickets would not go on sale until a licence has been obtained. The chamber of commerce, the restaurants association and the hotels associations are calling for the concerts to go ahead, and a majority of the councillors on Dublin City Council voted in favour of the concerts going ahead. It will be unfortunate for the economy in Dublin and a lost opportunity for all associated with these events, particularly the people in the area who run businesses, if the concerts do not go ahead.