A Fine Gael MEP has called for the Government to legislate against ticket touting.

The call from Brian Hayes comes as the Olympic Council of Ireland meets today to discuss allegations of the illegal sale of its tickets at the Rio Games.

OCI president Pat Hickey and Kevin Mallon are both in custody in Brazil, where they deny allegations of wrongdoing.

The Government has announced a non-statutory inquiry into the controversy, which Sports Minister Shane Ross says will take 12 weeks to complete its work.

Mr Hayes says it is time the issue is addressed more broadly.

“I’m not suggesting that there are not more serious issues, that’s not the point,” he said.

“But we do know that every time there is a major concert in town and people complain about the way in which they’ve had to pay way over the price for these tickets, there’s no legal format through which the actual police can take this issue seriously – on an organisational level, not a one-on-one level.”