Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 645: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his plans to deal with the widespread problem of tickets for concerts and other events being resold at inflated prices; if his attention has been drawn to the long established need for action in the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1687/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The resale of tickets for high-demand events at prices well above their face value is not a new phenomenon. The form it takes has changed in recent times with the emergence of online trading platforms and of businesses that engage in ticket resale openly and, as they would see it, legitimately.

Action in this area could involve either the prohibition or the regulation of ticket resale. I am not convinced that the first approach is a practical response to a problem that stems from a mismatch between supply and demand. As ticket resale is no longer an exclusively black market enterprise, there may be a case for examining whether regulation of the resale market is necessary or desirable in the interests of consumers. I am aware that legislation of this kind has operated in Britain and Northern Ireland since 1995.

I propose to seek the views of the National Consumer Agency on whether ticket resale is a significant cause of consumer detriment and, if so, what action, if any, might be taken to deal with it.