A TD has accused hotels in Dublin of "rampant price gouging" on the dates of Taylor Swift's concerts in the city next year.
Independent TD Thomas Pringle told the Dáil that there is not a hotel room available in Dublin for less than €350 on the dates of the US pop star’s Eras tour shows next year.
Swift announced her world tour last week and will perform at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on 28 and 29 June 2024.
The Donegal representative raised the matter with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during Leader's Questions, saying he was highlighting the Swift concerts as the star has many young fans who will travel with their parents.
Mr Pringle said while many young people are preoccupied with securing tickets for the shows, their parents are anxious about being able to afford accommodation.
He blasted a "disgraceful display of greed".
"From looking at [accommodation booking website] 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," he said.
He continued: "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 was before the tickets have even been released.
"And it’s not just hotels that are guilty of price gouging – one landlord has a two-bedroom apartment they priced at €20,000 for the same weekend."
He said the issue is "nothing new or unique" and has happened before with concerts and sporting events, and pressed Mr Varadkar on what he would do about it.
Responding, the Taoiseach said he has spoken to hoteliers on the matter, saying that they "have their story to tell… that the coverage in the media has been unfair."
He said hotel owners have told him that if you try to book a hotel more than a year in advance, you get the "rack rate", which is "not necessarily the rate that they charge", adding that they wanted that point to be made.
"I’ve made the point very strongly back to them, and it is that price gouging and taking advantage of people and hiking prices on very popular weekends is bad business. It’s how your business gets a bad reputation, it’s how your city or town gets a bad reputation and it’s how your wider industry gets a bad reputation, and it doesn’t make good business sense in the long term," he said.
He continued, "And we saw that happen before when Dublin in particular but Ireland in general got a reputation for being a very high-cost place to visit, and I hope they’ll take that point on board."
Mr Pringle blasted this as a "sad response".
"Surely the Government has to take some take some action at some point … the Government can actually prevent it (price gouging) from happening," he said.
Mr Varadkar hit back, saying Mr Pringle had not suggested any proposals or solutions to combat the situation.
Source: Press Association
