Almost nine out of 10 people in Ireland want profiteering from the resale of tickets to be banned, according to a new survey.
Some 86 per cent of respondents said they backed government action to stop above-cost price selling of tickets for concerts or sporting events. They would even support a ban if it meant job losses within the ticketing industry.
The results came from an Ireland Thinks poll, reported by the Irish Sun newspaper, which was commissioned by politician Noel Rock, a prominent opponent of the secondary ticketing market.
Rock, who has proposed a Bill to outlaw profiteering on the resale of tickets that has passed the first stage in the Dáil, said the poll shows there is “overwhelming support for the ban”.
He said: “I have been working in this issue since last year, when it came to light that we had no real laws or regulations in place to deal with ticket touting in Ireland.
“Like many people, I’ve been priced out of attending concerts and matches by ticket touts and have found it hugely frustrating.
“Ticket touting is a blight on our society, ramping up the cost of attending sporting events and concerts.”
In March, Rock went undercover to expose touts selling tickets for the Ireland v England Six Nations rugby match for more than 10 times the market value. The Fine Gael TD met up with a tout that was asking for €550 (£478/$591) per ticket for the game.
Earlier this year Ireland’s competition watchdog began a formal investigation of “suspected breaches of competition law” in the ticketing of live events.
IMAGE: Arun Marsh/Flickr
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