Fresh plea to outlaw ticket touts
The Government was tonight facing fresh demands to outlaw ticket touting as tickets for this weekend's rugby international flooded the black market.
Fans hoping to see Ireland take on South Africa at Lansdowne Road can expect to pay up to three times the face value of tickets on the internet.
With the prices expected to rise further as the game approaches, Labour Party consumer affairs spokeswoman Kathleen Lynch said it was time to introduce laws similar to those in Britain banning the touts.
The clampdown across the Irish Sea comes into effect today and makes it illegal for newspapers, websites, and internet search engines to carry advertising for black-market match tickets.
"Unfortunately in Ireland the Government has done absolutely nothing to clamp down on ticket scalping," said Deputy Lynch.
"The effect of this black market is to make it more difficult for ordinary fans to acquire tickets. No extra money goes back into the game from black-market tickets.
"The only people to benefit from this process are the ticket touts, who can make obscene tax-free profits from their activities," she added.
