The European Commission has been asked to investigate ticketing for the Oasis concert in Dublin.
The announcement that the British band was going on a reunion tour sparked huge excitement. But when tickets went on sale, many fans became upset over soaring prices.
Within hours of tickets going on sale for the concert at Croke Park, prices had reportedly risen to close to €2,000.
Ireland’s consumer protection agency, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, has already announced that it is carrying out an investigation into the use of so-called “dynamic pricing”.
Now Fine Gael MEP, Sean Kelly, has written to the European Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, asking her to take on an investigation at an EU level too.
In a letter to Executive Vice President Vestager, seen by NewsIreland.EU, Sean Kelly wrote:
“I respectfully ask you to consider initiating an investigation into the market behaviour of the company in the Irish market, with a view to assessing whether its actions constitute an abuse of dominance under European competition law.”
“A thorough examination of…pricing mechanisms, market share, and potential barriers to entry for other competitors in the Irish market would, I believe, be in the best interest of consumers who currently face limited choices and inflated costs.”
Sean Kelly has also demanded that the GAA puts in place stricter rules governing ticket sales for all future events at its stadiums.
“These concerts take place in GAA grounds, and I firmly believe that the same principles that apply to our matches should apply to concerts. There should be no ticket gouging, period.”