The Tánaiste also signalled that the Competition and Consumer Authority may be asked to investigate precisely what had happened.
Mr Martin’s comments came after fury from tens of thousands of disappointed fans tried for hours to secure tickets online on Saturday – only to be told there were either no tickets available, or that tickets were now costing multiple times what had initially been indicated.
The two Oasis concerts for Croke Park next year saw over 160,000 tickets sold out in a matter of hours. All 17 Oasis concerts across Dublin, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff and London sold out on Saturday – with fans furious over the inflated ticket prices being asked.
While the two Croke Park gigs had been advertised as having some pitch tickets from under €90, thousands of fans were caught in online queues for several hours – only to then be asked to pay close to €900 for two standing pitch tickets.
Some experts pointed out that, compared to the 1996 Oasis concert in Ireland, ticket price inflation was almost ten times what it should have been.
The Tánaiste said the ticket inflation had taken everyone aback – and urged all those involved to do something to rectify matters for disappointed Irish music fans.
“It is quite shocking,” he said. “We have the Competition and Consumer Authority and I think there is a role there for it which is the body designated to do these things, to investigate this,” he said.
“But more broadly speaking, I do think we need a strong reflection on this kind of runaway inflation in costs for concerts of these kinds with so many people looking forward to it.
“Clearly, it is beyond the reach of many many people to purchase or to be in a position to be able to afford a ticket to a concert given the rapid acceleration of price increases.
“There is still time for redemption I would hope,” he added.
“I would hope all of those organising this could reflect on what has transpired because certainly there are a lot of disappointed people out there from the perspective of what they would see as price gouging.”
Meanwhile Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley has written to the consumer watchdog for guidance on whether stricter regulations from Government could eliminate the ticketing practice, describing such pricing structures as “disingenuous” and “grossly unfair”.
“It is not based on a better vantage point, better seats, a better package, better anything – it’s just two seats side-by-side that can potentially sell for four times the price of the other,” he said.
“That was inherently wrong in the past. The public spoke out against it, the political system responded and put through legislation that outlawed the resale of tickets above face value.
“What it says to some people is that we’re going back to the bad old days of ‘Rip-Off Ireland’.
“It’s gouging and it’s damaging to the image of Ireland. I thought we had reached the end of that when we moved on from the craziness of the noughties, but it appears nothing is being learned from the ills of the past.”
Fine Gael MEP Regina Doherty called for a “serious investigation” by the consumer watchdog into the Ticketmaster ‘premium’ or ‘in demand’ pricing structure in the hours after tickets for the now sold-out Croke Park gigs went on sale.
Ms Doherty told RTÉ’s This Week that she has written to the European Commission as she also has concerns around the ‘in demand’ pricing structure in the context of the EU Digital Services Act, calling the practice a “rip-off”.
“It’s going to price people out of seeing live music, live events,” said Labour councillor for Cork City South East Peter Horgan, who plans to write to Justice Minister Helen McEntee on whether a loophole exist in the current ticket touting legislation to allow for such pricing to operate.
“If there is a loophole that is allowing dynamic pricing to operate, then that needs to be closed because what happened on Saturday was obscene,” he told the Irish Independent.
“We want to see more events coming to Ireland, but we’re going to price ourselves out of the game here.
When asked about this issue by the PA news agency, Ticketmaster said it does not set prices, and shared a link to its website where it says costs can be “fixed or market-based”.
An explanation by the website about the “in-demand standing ticket” price says: “The event organiser has priced these tickets according to their market value.
“Tickets do not include VIP packages. Availability and pricing are subject to change.”