Ticket touts days numbered as Cabinet endorses joint bill

Business Minister Heather Humphreys has secured Cabinet approval for the move, which comes after a joint bill brought by Fine Gael TD Noel Rock and Stephen Donnelly, the Fianna Fáil TD.

Once the bill is passed by the Dáil it will also stop the use of bot software which people use to buy more tickets than are permitted by event organisers.

Mr Rock said he thought the law could be a template for other jurisdictions.

He said: “Ireland is set to take the lead in effectively banning ticket touting.

“The legislation proposed is ambitious and sensible. I have no doubt that for sports and music fans, this legislation will be a game-changer.”

The bill will be one of the first joint Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil bills to become law.

Mr Donnelly said: “For too long, genuine music and sports fans have been ripped off by organised ticket touting.

“While there has always been some low-level touting, the move to online sales and bots has brought ticket touting to an industrial scale. Recent assertions to a Westminster committee link some of this to organised crime, based partly in Ireland.

“Time and time again, fans are being told that all tickets are sold out on the primary sales website, while almost immediately being able to buy those same tickets at much higher prices on other websites. Fans suffer, as do artists and sporting bodies.”