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A ban to prevent the resale of tickets for above face value has been accepted by the Department of Business after lengthy negotiations.

The government hope to pass legislation to ban greedy touts from buying up tickets for concerts and sports events and then reselling them at extortionate prices to desperate fans.

It's hoped that the ticket tout ban could be in place by this summer and the Dail are expected to debate on the bill in coming weeks, The Times Ireland reports.

TD Noel Rock proposed this bill and has been campaigning for it to be introduced for some time but it had been delayed for months while the government sought advice on the issue.

It's reported that Fianna Fail are supporting the bill, making it one of the first joint Fianna Fail-Fine Gael bills to become law.

Meetings were held recently between civil servants and members of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to discuss how such a law might work.

It's understood ticket touting will be banned but only if the artist performing requests it.

Mr Rock told The Times Ireland: "The new business minister (Heather Humphreys) is the third minister in this department since we set the bill forward.

"She has prioritised this and has made it clear that the government will accept this bill at second stage in the coming weeks, which will mark real progress.

"I am now confident that by the summer we will have the first legislation passed that regulates the issue of touting in this state".

Earlier this year, Mr Rock told The Irish Mirror his office had been "inundated" with complaints after presale tickets for Britney Spears' upcoming Dublin gig were listed online for €650 a pop.

"This is an absolute rip-off for fans and I think we need to intervene sooner rather than later, this can’t continue”, he said.