Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on the Bill and I acknowledge the tremendous amount of work that former Senator, Pádraig Ó Céidigh, did in bringing forward the Perjury and Related Offences Bill 2018. The Bill received cross-party support when it was passed in the Seanad in June 2019. The fact the Bill is included in the programme for Government demonstrates the urgency and importance of signing the Bill into law. In drafting the Bill, Pádraig Ó Céidigh met the Bar Council, the Law Reform Commission, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Irish Small and Medium Enterprise Association, victim support organisations and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.

It is surprising that a developed country such as Ireland is alone among the common law jurisdictions of the world in not having a statutory offence of perjury. While this will not be a magic solution to resolve the insurance crisis plaguing businesses it will signal to the courts, the Garda, the legal profession and society that Ireland as a nation will no longer tolerate lying under oath for personal gain. It is a positive sign that cases of false and exaggerated insurance claims are now being referred to An Garda Síochána, as until recently this was not the case. Over the past 12 to 18 months, we have seen more and more instances of insurance companies fighting claims in the courts. Signing the Bill into law will put the crime of perjury on a statutory footing, offering some possibility there will be serious consequences for taking exaggerated claims or lying under oath.

I support fully the four overreaching objectives of the Bill, in particular that we will now be able to define a statutory offence of perjury. It will be easily interpreted by the Garda, the legal profession, defendants and the courts. Clear statutory penalties will act as a deterrent for the act of perjury and will be sufficiently punitive to reflect the substantial effect that perjury can have.

I hope the Bill will have a practical impact on businesses, especially in relation to spiralling insurance costs. It is a sad reality that every week business owners, motorists, clubs and organisations throughout Ireland are before the courts as a result of claimants presenting with false or exaggerated personal injury claims, and until recently even if these cases were thrown out by a judge there were absolutely no consequences for the people making the claim. Many of these cases are taken on the basis of no foal, no fee. It is almost impossible to prosecute the people concerned for perjury because there is no definition of the offence in common law or statute law. The Bill will also send a clear message to those involved in the legal profession that there will be consequences for false claims, which must be related to clients before they step in to court and lie under oath.

We have all seen videos of people going into the bathroom. In my hometown of Galway, Pat McDonagh of Supermacs has engaged in a long campaign to highlight staged personal injury claims. Thanks to CCTV, some people can even be seen practising their fall or throwing water on the floor first. In situations such as this, small businesses are severely affected. If we put this into context, increasing insurance costs mean one person's lie becomes everybody's financial liability. This encompasses what Pádraig Ó Céidigh is trying to do. He has the full backing of the commercial world and small and medium enterprises in particular. They are very concerned with the damage that false claims can do to businesses and to schools.

When speaking on the Bill, Pádraig Ó Céidigh quite rightly pointed out that perjury is not a victimless crime and this is a point worth repeating. Good names have been destroyed due to lies told in court. Businesses have closed because of escalating insurance costs as a result of false and exaggerated claims. Whistleblowers have often been vilified due to the ease with which lies can be told without consequence. Perjury is not victimless. It affects people's lives, businesses and the rising insurance premiums of everybody in the country.

If the Bill is enacted and enforced it will signal a significant change in the "compo" culture mindset that has prevailed in Ireland in recent years. It will send a stark message to those who believe it is okay to lie under oath that there will be consequences for doing so and those consequences will be significant. It will not solve the problems related to insurance but it will be a start. It will also be of importance to the victims of crime as there will be a penalty for those who attempt to inflict injustice on them.

I commend the Bill to the House and I ask for the support of all parties for this important legislation.

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