Fianna Fáil Have The Power To Tackle Ticket Touting - SF

The power to tackle the problem of ticket touting is now in the hands of Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin have said.

TD Maurice Quinlivan, who has introduced a Bill on the issue, said that due to the Government's eleventh hour attempt to "kick this legislation down the road for nine months", the decision of proceeding ahead with regulation in this area now lies with Fianna Fáil. 

Teachta Quinlivan said: "Last night, the Government put down a last minute amendment to delay my Sale of Tickets (Sporting and Cultural Events) Bill 2017 by nine months, due to internal Fine Gael party quarrelling. I am disappointed at this development, and it is a far cry from the era of 'new politics' that the 32nd Dáil was supposed to represent.

"It has become clear that Noel Rock TD, who drafted a similar, but flawed Bill on the issue which has not moved from first stage, was upset with the decision that the Government was to facilitate this Sinn Féin Bill to address ticket touting, and so an amendment was aimed at appeasing him and delaying the progress of my Bill. 

"It's worth noting that Deputy Rock has gone out of his way to try and discredit the legislation over the past couple of days in the media, yet he made no personal contribution to the debate on the matter last night.

"The ball is now firmly in Fianna Fáil's court. They can decide if public concern and consumer interests trump that of petty Fine Gael party politics."

(MH/CD)