The Labour spokeswoman on consumer affairs, Ms Kathleen Lynch, has called on the Government to introduce legislation to prohibit ticket-touting for major sporting and musical events.
The intense interest in the Rugby Grand Slam decider between Ireland and England tomorrow has led to reports of tickets changing hands on the black market for up to 20 times their face value.
The Cork TD said an increase in corporate entertainment had added to the pressure for tickets, with commercial organisations prepared to pay to acquire tickets for their clients at prices that ordinary fans could not afford.
"The effect of this black market is to make it more difficult for ordinary fans to acquire tickets. It brings no benefit whatsoever to the promoters of the event - in this case the IRFU - who will still receive only the face value of the ticket. No extra money goes back into the game from black-market tickets.
"The only people to benefit from this process are the ticket touts, who can make obscene tax-free profits from their activities."
She added that there was clearly an obligation on the sponsoring organisation to take all possible steps to cut off the supply of tickets for the black market. Legislation should make it an offence to offer for sale a ticket for an event at more than its face value.
"This measure should not just be directed against street touts, but should also aim to stop the corporate black market sector. An exception would clearly need to be made where tickets might be auctioned and sold above face value for charitable purposes," Ms Lynch said.