Additional reporting by Brendan O'Loughlin
The head of a ticket reselling site says proposed laws aimed at tackling ticket touting will fail.
Draft legislation has been published which would ban the resale of concert and match tickets for 10% above their face value.
It's after mounting public outrage at how big events have been selling out, with tickets appearing on reselling sites within minutes at vastly inflated prices.
The head of Stubhub Ireland, an eBay-owned company based in Blanchardstown, insists the proposed laws to combat touts won't work, because most tickets sold on secondary sites go for less than their face value.
However, Wayne Grierson says the public does have the right to know how many tickets are allocated for general sale.
"The consumer doesn't actually know what is my chance to buy a ticket? If the capacity is 10,000 for example; are there 10,000 tickets or 2,000 tickets? You know it would give you that sense if there's high demand and low supply, there's going to be a lot of unhappy customers."
He says that in places like New York, as little as ten percent is made available. Most are given over for pre-sale, corporate and fan club tickets before being put on the market.
It comes as it's confirmed that almost a quarter of a million emails and electronic documents have been gathered as part of an investigation into anti-competitive ticket sales.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission says it's also held nine hearings where evidence was given under oath.
The investigation is focused primarily on ticket providers, promoters and venues, and is looking at issues like exclusive arrangements, rebates and high service charges.
The inquiry began in January, following complaints that tickets for a number of live shows and events were being re-sold at massively inflated prices.
