Pringle: The greed of some makes live events inaccessible for many

By Thomas Pringle
Updated: 29th June 2023

Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, has called on Government to address price gouging, as he noted Booking.com had not a single Dublin hotel room listed for under €350 for the nights of Taylor Swift’s Dublin concerts next year.

Addressing the Dáil today, Deputy Pringle said: “I know many young people across the country are anxious to get their hands on the well sought after Taylor Swift tickets that will be released in the next few weeks. I hope that the extra measures taken by Ticketmaster are successful in stamping out ticket touts and that tickets will go to actual fans who have waited a long time to see her live.”

Deputy Pringle said: “Unfortunately, the greed of some in this country has made the experience of live events inaccessible for many of our citizens. Because while many young people’s anxieties are focused on obtaining tickets, the anxieties of many parents are focused on affording accommodation.

“From looking at Booking.com this morning, there isn’t a single hotel room available in Dublin for under €350 for either of the nights of the Taylor Swift concerts, and they’re on next year.

“As if that isn’t expensive enough, we have, in recent days, seen rampant price gouging from Dublin hotels, some raising the price of a room from €359 to an incredible €999 for the night of the concert, and this is before tickets have even been released. Minister Ryan described this as ‘shocking’ last weekend, but what has he done about it?

“And it’s not just hotels that are guilty of price gouging. One landlord has a two-bed Dublin apartment priced at €20,000 for the same weekend.

“How is this accessible for my constituents in Donegal, Taoiseach, who are undoubtedly the most affected by this disgraceful display of greed because of their distance from the capital?

“I’m highlighting the Taylor Swift concerts in particular because we know that she has a lot of young fans who cannot travel independently and who will require adult supervision, but sadly this is not new or unique. Price gouging has been an issue with almost every live event that has taken place in recent years, from concerts, to Ireland games, to GAA finals.

“This issue has affected fans of all genres of music and fans of all types and levels of sport. But it’s rural fans that are affected most. It is yet again another example of the immense greed and selfishness that has taken hold in this country and which is completely unacceptable and unscrupulous during this cost-of-living crisis.

“This is an accessibility issue, Taoiseach, that yet again affects my constituents more than others. So what are you and the Government going to do about it?” he said. Deputy Pringle raised the issue during Leaders’ Questions.

In his response, the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said he has made the point with hoteliers that price gouging and hiking prices on popular weekends is bad for business and is how a business, a city or town, and a wider industry gets a bad reputation. He said he hoped they will take that on board.

Deputy Pringle said: “So your response is basically you’re appealing to the good nature of the people who are racking these prices on people already.”

“Surely the Government has to take some action at some point. You say that getting a reputation for price gouging is bad for society, that it is bad for the economy as a whole. Of course it is. But the Government can actually prevent it from happening. The government can say to hoteliers we’re going to take action and we’re going to stop you doing this, and actually implement it,” he said.