Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made a comparative assessment of the protection available to consumers buying tickets in the UK with those available to consumers in the Republic of Ireland.

His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting fair and transparent ticket pricing and tackling unacceptable behaviour in this market.

We have strengthened the law in relation to ticketing information requirements and have introduced a criminal offence of using automated software to buy more tickets online than is allowed. We also support the work of enforcement agencies in this area, such as the Competition and Markets Authority, National Trading Standards, and the advertising industry's own regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority.

We are aware that other countries, including Ireland, have their own legislative measures relating to consumer protection, including for the sale and resale of tickets for live events. We carry out ongoing monitoring of the legislative landscape in the ticketing market and in the light of technological, enforcement and other market developments, but agree with the recommendation in the Competition and Markets Authority’s 2021 report on secondary ticketing that there should not be a ban on the uncapped secondary ticket market.