I know many young people across the country are anxious to get their hands on the much 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.

The power of live music cannot be overstated, and it is something that I think is often overlooked. Studies have shown that people who regularly experience live music boost their creativity and cognitive abilities, reduce their stress hormone levels, while increasing the production of endorphins, dopamine and oxytocin, and experience consistent social cohesion.

This social connection is more important now than ever in the wake of Covid-19. Considering that many young music fans missed out on two years of opportunities to experience live events, we need to ensure that they are now given the chance to experience this sense of community and connection that comes from live music, which can be hard to find in our technology-driven world, and that this experience is accessible to everyone equally.

Unfortunately, the greed of some in this country has made the experience of live events inaccessible for many of our citizens. 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 is not a single hotel room available in Dublin for under €350 for either of the nights of the Taylor Swift concerts, and they are on next year. As if that is not expensive enough, we have, in recent days, seen rampant price gouging by Dublin hotels, some raising the price of a room from €359 to an incredible €999 for the night of the concert. This is before the tickets have even been released. Last weekend, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, described this as shocking, but what has he done about it?

It is not just hotels that are guilty of price gouging. One landlord has a two-bedroom Dublin apartment priced at €20,000 for the same weekend. How is this accessible for my constituents in Donegal, who are undoubtedly the most affected by this disgraceful display of greed because of their distance from the capital? I am 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 is rural fans who are affected most.

It is yet again another example of the immense greed and selfishness that has taken hold in this country, which is completely unacceptable and unscrupulous during this cost of living crisis. This is an accessibility issue that yet again affects my constituents more than others. What is the Government going to do about it?

I acknowledge the basic point the Deputy started off with, which was how important social connections are. In this very online and digital age, it is still all the more important that we meet each other, see other people, meet, embrace, shake hands and have shared experiences whether that is attending matches, concerts, agricultural shows and other events over the summer. Those things are really important for people's sense of community and mental health.

They do not always have to be paid for and they do not always require tickets. Many events I attended in the past week or two were free, often funded by Government and local authorities. At the weekend, I attended Street Feast in Dublin 8. It happened all over Dublin city - 400 places around the country - where people were encouraged to have a street party on their own street. An Garda Síochána closed off the street and residents organised small events. It was a great chance for people to meet neighbours, something we do not do in the same way as we used to in the past. I attended the Castleknock Festival, which was a similar event with no charge unless you took part in the 5 km run, which I did not. The same was true of Blanchardstown so there are a lot of really good events. It is not always about having to buy a ticket for something but I get the point that people want to attend the big concerts and the big matches, as do I, and that this can affect people if they have to travel outside their area to stay in hotels or something like an Airbnb property.

We have a dilemma here, which the Deputy understands. We do not have enough hotels in the city of Dublin but we do not particularly want a huge number of new hotels to be built because one of the biggest challenges we are facing is the housing crisis and rather than more hotels and Airbnb properties we want fewer new hotels being built, fewer Airbnb properties, more construction going into housing and more Airbnb properties and short-term lets being moved into housing. We must always bear in mind the mental impact of the housing crisis as opposed to the other one described by the Deputy.

I have spoken to hoteliers about this. They have their story to tell and their story is that the coverage in the media has been unfair and that if you try to book a hotel more than one year ahead, you get the rack rate. It is not necessarily the rate they charge and they wanted that point to be made so I have made it. I made the point very strongly to them that price gouging, taking advantage of people and hiking prices on very popular weekends is bad business. It is how your business gets a bad reputation, how your city or town gets a bad reputation and how your wider industry gets a bad reputation. It does not make good business sense in the long term. We saw what happened previously when Dublin in particular but Ireland in general got a reputation for being a very high-cost place to visit. I hope hoteliers will take that point on board.

So the Taoiseach’s response is basically to appeal to the good nature of the people who are already racking these prices on people. That is a sad response. Surely the Government has to take some action at some point. The Taoiseach said getting a reputation for price gouging is bad for society and the economy as a whole. Of course it is but the Government can prevent it from happening. It can tell hoteliers that it will take action and stop them from doing this and implement it instead of just chatting nicely to them and putting their arguments across here on the floor of the House so their arguments can be heard, which I believe is nonsensical. I have heard them make that argument on the radio. Every citizen can hear them make those arguments but that does not change anything. Nothing ever changes. Based on the Government's point of view, it seems that nothing will change because the Taoiseach is going to stand there and say there are loads of free events around the country and people can go to them and if they go to concerts, they are going to have to suck it up and put up with it because the Government is going to talk nicely to the hoteliers, see if they will reduce their prices and when they do not, do nothing about it. That is a sad reflection.

I appreciate that it is an important issue but the Deputy did not put forward a proposal or action the Government should take. In fairness, Deputy Naughten did with regard to his question on disability services as did Deputy Bacik regarding her question on RTÉ. Deputy Pringle has not put forward a solution. The Deputy has been very critical of the Government, hoteliers and everyone and of me personally but he did not put forward a constructive solution so if he has one, he should put it forward and we will give it consideration. It is not a joke. It is a serious request and suggestion.

Sure.