THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED TICKET touting law is to come before the Dáil next week.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast today, one of the Bills proposers Fine Gael’s Noel Rock said Minister for Business, Enterprise, and Innovation Heather Humphreys has effectively “fast-tracked” the legislation.
Rock said he is now confident that it will be pushed over the line by St Patrick’s Day.
The proposed legislation would ban the above-face-value resale of tickets for sporting and entertainment events in designated venues with a capacity of 1,000 or over.
It would also prohibit the use of bot software to purchase tickets in excess of the number permitted by event organisers.
The Anti-Ticket Touting Bill had been lying idle in the Oireachtas Bills Office for over a year due to it being a Private Members Bill, however due to Minister Humphreys wanting to move on the legislation, she adopted the legislation so it could be heard in government time.
“Heather took it out of the raffle and put it to the front of the queue.
“She knows that this legislation, like the gift voucher legislation, has meaning in people’s lives,” said Rock.
The Bill, which was proposed by Fianna Fáil’s Stephen Donnelly and Fine Gael’s Noel Rock, is due before the Dáil next week.
Rock said there had been lobbying by companies over the last year, stating that there are “a lot of vested interests involved”.
“There’s more lobbying happening, and there has been for the past two years now.”
Ahead of the Bill’s publication in July, many major stakeholders in the ticketing industry, such as Ticketmaster, objected to the proposed bill. After the proposed law was published, the company shut down its ticket resale website, Seatwave.
TheJournal.ie reported earlier this month that online ticket marketplace Viagogo sent a legal memorandum to government ministers warning that proposed ticket tout laws could be unconstitutional and pose a threat to hundreds of jobs at its Limerick office.
There have been calls for the legislation to be processed as a priority due to some tickets for major concerts being sold, in some cases, for over €1,000.
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