Dublin South West TD, Seán Crowe, has welcomed the comments of Peter Aiken of Aiken Promotions, one of the country’s biggest music promoters, on the need for the regulation of ticket re-selling in Ireland. Peter Akien spoke out against the use of secondary ticket selling websites, such as Seatwave and Getmein.com after tickets for concerts for U2 and Ed Sheeran were recently being touted for over €1000 on the internet.
Deputy Seán Crowe said these comments will add to the pressure on the Minister to fast track legislation in this area.
The Sinn Féin TD said:
“Ticket touting has escalated in recent years. With advances in technology, the practice has grown from traditional touts selling counterfeit, cancelled or extortionately priced tickets outside venues, to online sites, in the grey area of regulation.
“These events are designed to give fans of music and sport the opportunity to see their heroes live, and should be a positive experience all round, but the abuse of ticket reselling is reflecting badly on the industry.
“Each time tickets go on sale for a concert or sporting event, it is usually followed by a news report that outlines how the tickets sold out in minutes and are immediately reselling online at extortionate prices.
“Despite people’s best efforts in queuing and arranging to buy tickets online the morning of a sale, most have no chance as a result of the misuse of the system by secondary resellers.
“The reselling of tickets is not benefitting the public, the music artists, or sports teams involved. Sinn Féin’s new piece of legislation, the ‘Sale of Tickets (Sporting and Cultural Events) Bill 2017’, aims to address these issues and give everyone a fair opportunity to buy tickets to these events.
“Our legislation would allow consumers who buy tickets in good faith, only to discover that they cannot attend the event, to dispose of their tickets allowing up to a 10% profit margin. It would also have the effect of being a disincentive to ticket touts by means of substantial fines.
“I believe this practice has gone on for too long, and is making what should be an enjoyable experience for people into a nightmare trying to obtain reasonably priced legitimate tickets.
“I welcome the intervention and comments of Peter Aiken of Aiken Promotion and his comments on the need for the regulation of ticket re-selling in Ireland. Hopefully this will add to the pressure on the Minister to eliminate this despicable practice.”
ENDS