Anti-ticket touting legislation expected to sail through Dáil with cross-party support

After a consultation process that involved discussions with Ticketmaster as to the effects that the Bill would have on the business and its sister company Seatwave, Noel Rock made the confirmation this afternoon that he would be pushing ahead with legislation to curb the inflated resale of concert tickets.

"I'm glad to say that a) both Fine Gael and Sinn Fein support this Bill, and B) that as of this afternoon, even with this consultation process having been launched, that the Taoiseach has no objection to us pursuing this Bill. So that's very encouraging. The Taoiseach has said very clearly that I can continue with this Bill."

Following on from similar legislation that passed through Belgian parliament in 2013, the Bill seek to make it illegal to resell tickets online at a higher value than they were purchased for.

Also encouraging is that the Bill has cross-party support.

"Stephen Donnelly - the Independent TD - is now a co-sponsor of this Bill, which I think is important as well, that it's not just initiated by the government but has support right across the Dáil."

While this may be a welcome sigh of relief for ticket fans who have been forced to choose between paying outrage prices for concerts or missing out on seeing their favourite band live, Noel Rock cautions that the timing of the Bill's passing through the Dáil is not set in stone.

"When you introduce a piece of legislation to the floor of the Dáil for the first reading, generally speaking all Bills pass the first stage unless they're objectionable. The second stage is where the real meat of the debate happens. But in order for a Private Members Bill - meaning, a Bill that is from a backbencher and not from a government minister - to be set forward to the House, there's a sort of lottery to determine when it might be heard. So it could be next week, but it could easy be two or three months. So it'd the timing element that is uncertain here."