Midlands Senator says Ticketmaster must face Oireachtas questioning

A Midlands Senator said representatives of Ticketmaster and MCD must be brought before an Oireachtas committee to face questions about the high cost of tickets and service charges.

The call from Senator Micheál Carrigy was made in a statement today (Monday) as the controversy over the high cost of some tickets to next year's Oasis concerts in Croke Park continues.

Senator Micheál Carrigy said he had written to the chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media seeking a meeting with representatives from Ticketmaster to discuss pricing after what he described as the "the disastrous sale of tickets" for the Oasis concerts.

"Over the last few days many music fans were left devastated when the only tickets left for Oasis were priced far beyond the originally advertised €86.50," said the Longford politician.

"Online ticket giant Ticketmaster kept raising prices— even as people waited in line for hours, so fans had no choice but to opt for the more expensive tickets.

"Like many, I logged on last Saturday morning hoping to secure tickets and after two hours, I reached the top of the queue to purchase tickets at a startling cost of €415.50 each for General Admission.

"Serious questions remain unanswered about how dynamic ticket pricing works and why artists are allowed to opt into this.

"In 2021, Fine Gael introduced legislation that banned the reselling of tickets for more than their face value. The aim of this was to stop ticket touting and protect consumers.

"I believe Ticketmaster is touting in a different format with the band and promoter now using this method to make higher profits at the expense of the Irish public where there is a high demand to attend a particular show.

"It is imperative that the Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media is briefed on the decisions Ticketmaster and MCD have made.

"We need to hear a clear explanation as to how Ticketmaster and MCD justify these prices.

"I've written to the Committee’s Chair to ask her to invite representatives from Ticketmaster to come before the committee.

"I urge Ticketmaster and MCD to speak with members of the committee, so decisions made over the weekend are clarified and the public has all the information on what went wrong," Senator Carrigy concluded.