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2nd September 2024
09:58am BST
The Tánaiste has blasted what he has labelled as 'price gouging' over Oasis tickets for next year's gigs.
Ticketmaster has come under fire following the release of tickets for the band's long-awaited reunion tour, which left countless fans disappointed.
Thousands of fans failed to secure a ticket, citing huge queues, the website crashing and massively inflated prices.
Michéal Martin said the ticket price situation "is quite shocking."
"We have a competition and consumer authority and I think there is a role there for it, which is the body designated to do these things, to investigate this."
He added: "There is still time for redemption and I would hope that all of those organising this could reflect on what has transpired.
"There are a lot of disappointed people out there from the perspective of what they see as price gouging."
He said there needs to be a strong reflection on 'runaway inflation in costs for concerts'.
Fine Gael MEP Regina Doherty also spoke on the matter on RTÉ Radio One, saying that she wrote to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), as well as the competitions commissioner in the European commission, Margrethe Vestager.
"I believe this in-demand pricing model used yesterday – and incidentally for the first time ever in Ireland for a concert or an event like this – is illegal," she said.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín added that the misleading pricing advertisements should be a matter for the Gardaí.
"It sucks people into a system whereby they are waiting for hours and therefore they are more likely, through desperation, to pay the extra price that wasn’t advertised in the first place so I do think this should be something the gardaí should look into, absolutely.
"The music industry has to explain itself. It often poses as a kind of anti-establishment system but in reality it’s now just a machine pushing greed at a cost to citizens."
The UK government has said it will look into the use of ‘dynamic ticket pricing’ by Ticketmaster, following controversy over the cost of tickets to see Oasis next summer.
The dynamic pricing model allows Ticketmaster to raise the price of tickets according to market demand, which saw hugely inflated prices for Oasis over the weekend.
Many have directed their anger towards Oasis for allowing this to happen, pointing out that the band could have rejected the dynamic pricing option.
A spokesperson for the CCPC told The Irish Times that there are “no price controls in Ireland, apart from in certain, limited areas”.
They added that businesses “are allowed to adjust their prices in response to demand, or other factors, once an accurate price is displayed to the consumer in advance of the sale."
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