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Ticket touts face fines of up to €100,000 or up to two years in prison if they sell music or sports tickets for live events above face value, under legislation that reaches the Dáil this week after four years of scrutiny.
Although questions remain about how the European soccer championships will proceed, the legislation will be enacted by June 11th when the tournament is due to begin.
The Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Bill includes a specific provision for the Euro championships, banning the unauthorised sale of tickets for matches.
While banning the resale of tickets to live events, matches and concerts in designated events and venues, at a price above face value, there is an exemption for amateur sports clubs and registered charities for fundraising purposes.
When the Bill was published last month, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Leo Varadkar said the legislation “gives me hope. We’re planning for a time when live events are possible again. Numbers will likely be restricted to begin with, so it’s even more important that people aren’t ripped off and that tickets go to real fans.”
Minister of State for trade promotion, digital and company regulation Robert Troy, who will steer the legislation through the Oireachtas, said “ticket touts could only be too willing to exploit the opportunities presented by restricted attendances for popular events.
“With this in mind, the Bill now includes a provision for the fast-track designation of venues or events if the normal designation procedure cannot be completed before events attended by fans resume.”
‘Stop opportunists’
He said the Bill will “stop opportunists with no interest or involvement in music or sport enriching themselves at the expense of sports and music fans, sporting bodies, artists and promoters. And importantly, fans will have all the information they need to ensure they are not being ripped off.”
A Bill to ban the sale of tickets for large live events including matches and concerts above face value was first introduced four years ago by then Fine Gael TD Noel Rock and Independent TD Stephen Donnelly.
The Bill was supported by the previous government and got a second reading in the Dáil in early 2019. The European Commission then had to be notified of the legislation to ensure no issue of compatibility with EU law or the internal market arose.
The scheme of the Bill was submitted to the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment for pre-legislative scrutiny on September 23rd, 2020. The committee’s pre-legislative scrutiny report was published on February 18th, 2021.
The legislation is expected to go through the Dáil and Seanad in a number of weeks to be enacted and implemented by June 11th.