Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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53. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the availability online of tickets for sale for the Ireland versus Portugal football match on 9 November 2021 which is a sold out event despite the practice of the banning of reselling tickets above face value being banned after the Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021 was brought into force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53122/21]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The provisions of the Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021 came into effect on 31st July, 2021. At that time, the Statutory Instrument putting into place the designation process for venues and events was also signed and the application forms made available on my Department’s website.

All operators of venues with a capacity of more than 1000 and sporting organisations, major event organisers and concert promoters were written to, both by my officials and by me on separate occasions to advise them that the legislation was in operation and designation application forms available.

For the legislation to operate as intended, the relevant venue operator or event organiser needs to apply for venue or event designation. It is the intention of the Act, and indeed it is my preference, that venues would be designated under the Act rather than a multitude of separate events as this would be less administratively burdensome and would ensure clarity for the live events sector as well as consumers. The purpose of permitting event designation was to ensure that once-a-year events or special one-off events would also be covered by the legislation.

To date, six venues and eighteen events have been designated under the Act and a designation register is available at: Register for Designation of Venues and Events - DETE (enterprise.gov.ie)

As noted in recent media coverage, I can confirm that the Aviva Stadium is now designated as a venue for all events that will take place there, with effect from 28 October. This means that the Ireland V Portugal match taking place on 11 November falls within the scope of the law.

Section 15 of the Act, with specific exceptions, prohibits a secondary ticket seller from selling or advertising for sale or causing the advertisement for sale of a ticket or ticket package for a relevant event for a price exceeding the original sale price. A relevant event is defined as an event taking place in a designated venue or a designated event, therefore, above original price secondary reselling is unlawful for such events or venues that are designated under the legislation.