Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1. Short title and commencement

1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and provisions.

2. Interpretation

2. In this Act—

“advertise” includes every form of advertisement, whether or not to the public, in a newspaper or other publication, on television or radio, by display of a notice, by electronic communication, including by means of the internet, or by any other means;

“amateur sports club” means a not for profit club which has as its main purpose the provision of facilities for, and the promotion of, participation in one or more sports but does not include a sports club or body organised on a county, provincial, regional or national basis;

“applicant” means—

(a) an event applicant, or

(b) a venue applicant;

“charitable organisation” means a registered charitable organisation within the meaning of section 2 of the Charities Act 2009;

“designated event” shall be construed in accordance with section 9;

“designated venue” shall be construed in accordance with section 7;

“event” means a cultural, entertainment, recreational or sporting event;

“event applicant” shall have the meaning assigned to it by section 9;

“event organiser”, in relation to an event, means a person who—

(a) is responsible for staging, organising or managing the event, or

(b) a person, acting for, or on behalf of, a person referred to in paragraph (a);

“Minister” means the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment;

“original sale price” means—

(a) the price for which a ticket or ticket package was sold by a primary ticket seller and includes any additional charge or fee applying to the sale of the ticket or ticket package, or

(b) the price for which an equivalent ticket or ticket package was on sale by a primary ticket seller where a secondary ticket seller obtained the ticket or ticket package other than through payment of the price;

“prescribe” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;

“primary ticket seller” means—

(a) an event organiser,

(b) a venue operator,

(c) a person authorised to sell tickets or ticket packages on behalf of an event organiser or venue operator, or

(d) a person acting for, or on behalf of, a person referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) or (c),

but does not include a secondary ticket seller;

“relevant event” means an event taking place in a designated venue or a designated event;

“secondary ticket marketplace” means a website, online service, electronic application or print publication which provides a secondary ticket seller with a facility for the sale or advertising for sale of tickets or ticket packages and includes a marketplace that also provides a facility for the sale or supply, or advertising for sale or supply, of other goods or services;

“secondary ticket operator”, in relation to a secondary ticket marketplace, means—

(a) a person who owns or manages the marketplace or is otherwise responsible for the operation of the marketplace, or

(b) a person acting for, or on behalf of, a person referred to in paragraph (a);

“secondary ticket seller” means a person who sells a ticket or ticket package that was originally sold by, or otherwise originally made available by or through, a primary ticket seller;

“sell” includes, in relation to a ticket or ticket package, to offer or expose the ticket or ticket package for sale or invite the making by a person of an offer to purchase the ticket or ticket package;

“ticket”, in relation to an event, means a card, pass, paper, document, device, whether in electronic form or otherwise, that on presentation entitles the holder to gain admission to the event;

“ticket package” means a package under which—

(a) a ticket is sold or offered for sale at an inclusive price in combination with other goods or services, or

(b) the purchase of other goods or services entitles the purchaser to buy a ticket for its original sale price or other specified price;

“venue applicant” shall have the meaning assigned to it by section 7;

“venue operator” means a person who—

(a) owns or manages a venue or is otherwise responsible for the operation of the venue, or

(b) a person, including an event organiser, acting for, or on behalf of, a person referred to in paragraph (a).

3. Expenses

3. The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, be paid out of monies provided by the Oireachtas.

4. Regulations

4. (1) The Minister may by regulations provide for any matter referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

(2) Without prejudice to any provision of this Act, regulations under this Act may contain such incidental, supplementary and consequential provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the regulations.

(3) Every regulation made by the Minister under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House sits after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

5. Service of documents

5. (1) A notice or other document that is required to be served on or given to a person under this Act shall be addressed to the person concerned by name, and may be so served on or given to the person in one of the following ways:

(a) by delivering it to the person;

(b) by leaving it at the address at which the person ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, at that address;

(c) by sending it by post in a prepaid registered letter to the address at which the person ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, to that address;

(d) by electronic means, in a case in which the person has given notice in writing to the person serving or giving the notice or document concerned of his or her consent to the notice or document (or notices or documents of a class to which the notice or document belongs) being served on, or given to, him or her in that manner.

(2) For the purpose of this section, a company formed and registered under the Companies Act 2014 or an existing company within the meaning of that Act is deemed to be ordinarily resident at its registered office, and every other body corporate and every unincorporated body of persons shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its principal office or place of business.

6. Application

6. This Act applies to the sale, or the advertising for sale, of a ticket or ticket package on or after the day on which this section comes into operation.

PART 2 Sale of Tickets for Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events in designated venues and for designated events

7. Designation of certain venues

7. (1) A venue operator (in this section and section 8 also referred to as a “venue applicant”) may apply to the Minister to have one or more venues designated for the purposes of this Act if—

(a) the venue has the capacity to hold 1,000 persons or more, and

(b) the venue applicant is of the reasonable opinion that the venue will hold events which may give rise to the sale of tickets or ticket packages by a secondary ticket seller for a price exceeding the original sale price.

(2) An application under subsection (1) shall be in writing and in such form as the Minister may prescribe and shall include—

(a) the name, address, e-mail address, telephone number and website address of the applicant,

(b) the address of the venue, or if the application concerns more than one venue, the address of each of those venues, the subject of the application,

(c) the capacity of the venue concerned or, if the application concerns more than one venue, the capacity of each of those venues, and

(d) a statement that the venue applicant is of the reasonable opinion that events taking place in the venue, or if the application concerns more than one venue, in each of the venues, may give rise to the sale of tickets or ticket packages by a secondary ticket seller for a price exceeding the original sale price.

(3) The Minister may prescribe a fee to accompany an application made under subsection (1) and different fees may be prescribed for different classes of application.

(4) At any time after receiving an application and before determining that application, the Minister may by notice in writing require the venue applicant to provide additional information to him or her.

(5) The Minister may—

(a) designate a venue, the subject of an application under subsection (1),where he or she is satisfied of the matters specified in that subsection, or

(b) subject to section 8(2), refuse to designate a venue, the subject of an application under subsection (1),where he or she is not so satisfied.

(6) The Minister may, notwithstanding that an application in respect of a venue has not been made to him or her under subsection (1), designate the venue if, after consultation with the venue operator, the Minister is satisfied—

(a) that—

(i) the venue (including a venue with a capacity to hold fewer than 1,000 persons) will hold events which may give rise to the sale of tickets or ticket packages by a secondary ticket seller for a price exceeding the original sale price, or

(ii) a designation under subsection (5)(a) cannot be made prior to the venue holding events which may give rise to the sale of tickets or ticket packages by a secondary ticket seller for a price exceeding the original sale price,

and

(b) that the designation of that venue would be in the public interest.

(7) Where the Minister designates a venue under subsection (5)(a) or (6), he or she shall notify the venue operator in writing of the designation.

(8) A notification under subsection (7) shall include the following information:

(a) the reason for the designation;

(b) subject to subsection (9), the date on which the designation shall come into effect;

(c) that the venue operator may appeal the designation under subsection (6) in accordance with section 13.

(9) A designation made by the Minister under subsection (6) shall come into effect upon the making of such designation, or on such later date as may be specified by the Minister in a notification under subsection (7), and the bringing of an appeal against such designation under section 13 shall not affect the operation of the designation.

8. Refusal or revocation of designation of certain venues

8. (1) The Minister may revoke a designation made under section 7 where—

(a) in the case of a designation made under section 7(5), he or she is no longer satisfied that there is a reasonable basis for the opinion of the venue applicant or venue operator that the venue, the subject of the designation concerned, has the capacity to hold 1,000 persons or more,

(b) in the case of a designation made under section 7(5), he or she is no longer satisfied that there is a reasonable basis for the opinion of the venue applicant or venue operator that the venue, the subject of the designation concerned, will hold events which may give rise to the sale of tickets or ticket packages by a secondary ticket seller for a price exceeding the original sale price,

(c) in the case of a designation made under section 7(6), he or she is no longer satisfied that the venue, the subject of the designation concerned, will hold events which may give rise to the sale of tickets or ticket packages by a secondary ticket seller for a price exceeding the original sale price, or

(d) in the case of a designation made under section 7(5) or section 7(6), as the case may be, the venue, the subject of the designation concerned, is no longer in operation or has ceased to hold events.

(2) Where the Minister proposes—

(a) to refuse a designation under section 7(5)(b), he or she shall notify the venue applicant in writing of the proposed refusal, or

(b) to revoke a designation under subsection (1), he or she shall notify the venue operator in writing of the proposed revocation.

(3) A notification under subsection (2) shall include details of the following:

(a) the proposal to refuse a designation under section 7(5)(b) or to revoke a designation under subsection (1) and the reason for it;

(b) in the case of a proposal to refuse a designation under section 7(5)(b), that the venue applicant may instead make an application under section 9 to have an event designated;

(c) that the venue applicant may make representations in accordance with section 12 regarding such proposal to refuse a designation;

(d) that the venue operator may make representations in accordance with section 12 regarding such proposal to revoke a designation;

(e) that if the venue operator does not make such representations, the revocation of a designation under subsection (1) shall come into operation 28 days from the date of the service of the notification;

(f) that the venue applicant or venue operator may make an appeal in accordance with section 13.

9. Designation of certain events

9. (1) An event organiser or venue operator, (in this section and section 10 also referred to as an “event applicant”) may apply to the Minister to have an event designated for the purposes of this Act (in this section referred to as the “designated event”) if, having regard to the nature of the event, the applicant is of the reasonable opinion that the event may give rise to the sale of tickets or ticket packages for that event by a secondary ticket seller for a price exceeding the original sale price.

(2) An application may be made under subsection (1) for the designation of an event which takes place on an annual or other periodic basis in the same venue.

(3) An application under subsection (1) shall be in writing and in such form as the Minister may prescribe and shall include—

(a) the name, address, e-mail address, telephone number and website address of the event applicant,

(b) details (including the proposed date or dates concerned) of the event and the address of the venue where the event, the subject of the application, will take place, and

(c) a statement that the event applicant is of the reasonable opinion that the event, the subject of the application, may give rise to the sale of tickets or ticket packages for that event by a secondary ticket seller for a price exceeding the original sale price.

(4) The Minister may prescribe a fee to accompany an application made under subsection (1).

(5) At any time after receiving an application and before determining that application, the Minister may by notice in writing require the event applicant to provide additional information to him or her.

(6) The Minister may—

(a) designate an event which has been the subject of an application under subsection (1) where he or she is satisfied of the matters specified in that subsection, or

(b) subject to section 10(1), refuse to designate an event which has been the subject of an application under subsection (1) where he or she is not so satisfied.

(7) The Minister may notwithstanding that an application in respect of an event has not been made to him or her under subsection (1), designate an event if, after consultation with the event organiser or venue operator, the Minister is satisfied, having regard to the nature of the event—

(a) that—

(i) the event may give rise to the sale of tickets or ticket packages by a secondary ticket seller for that event for a price exceeding the original sale price, or

(ii) that a designation by the Minister under subsection (6)(a) cannot be made prior to the event which may give rise to the sale of tickets or ticket packages by a secondary ticket seller for a price exceeding the original sale price,

and

(b) that the designation of that event would be in the public interest.

(8) Where the Minister designates an event under subsection (6)(a) or (7), he or she shall notify the event organiser or venue operator in writing of the designation.

(9) A notification under subsection (8) shall include the following information:

(a) the reason for the designation;

(b) subject to subsection (10), the date on which the designation shall come into effect;

(c) that the event organiser or venue operator may appeal the designation under subsection (7) in accordance with section 13.

(10) A designation made by the Minister under subsection (7) shall come into effect upon the making of such designation, or on such later date as may be specified by the Minister in a notification under subsection (8), and the bringing of an appeal against such designation under section 13 shall not affect the operation of the designation.

10. Refusal or revocation of designation of certain events

10. (1) The Minister may revoke a designation made under section 9 where—

(a) in the case of a designation made under section 9(6), he or she is no longer satisfied that there is a reasonable basis for the opinion of the event applicant, event organiser or venue operator that the event, the subject of the designation concerned, may give rise to the sale of tickets or ticket packages by a secondary ticket seller for that event for a price exceeding the original sale price,

(b) in the case of a designation made under section 9(7), he or she is no longer satisfied that the event, the subject of the designation concerned, may give rise to the sale of tickets or ticket packages for that event for a price exceeding the original sale price, or

(c) in the case of a designation made under section 9(6) or section 9(7), as the case may be, he or she is not satisfied that the event, the subject of the application under section 9(1), is the same as, or substantially similar to, that specified in the application for designation under section 9(1), or designated under section 9(7), as the case may be.