Meanwhile, Sinn Féin local representative, Matt Carthy TD said the monopoly held by Ticketmaster in Ireland should end and that dynamic pricing as seen over the Oasis ticket fiasco has been a problem for some time here. Speaking during a panel discussion on the Joe Finnegan Show earlier today, Deputy Carthy said he was surprised to hear Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs call out dynamic pricing after so many Oasis fans were caught out at the weekend.
He referenced how he watched on the Dáil TV screens his Sinn Féin colleague Louise O'Neill raised the issue with Fianna Fáil Minister Dara Calleary some months ago but, "she was dismissed". "What we've seen since is inaction" Matt Carthy said. He went on to liken dynamic pricing where the price of an item goes up as demand for it increases, to "ticket touting". The Monaghan-based TD also described Ticketmaster's dominance in the Irish live gig market as a "monopoly".
"Yes, we need to end the practice of dynamic pricing but, we also need to deal with the situation of a monopoly that's in place via Ticketmaster in respect of many concerts and events when tickets as such are at face value, in other words, advertised price," Deputy Carthy said, "Because, when I go onto Ticketmaster to purchase a ticket invariably the ticket is 10 per cent higher because of additional charges in the process of my booking the ticket, and when you are dealing with a situation where one company has the monopoly then it's not a free market."
