Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Well-deserved tributes have been paid to the great Bob Dylan in recent days as he has reached that great milestone of his 80th birthday, but another legend, an Irish one, deserves to be remembered here too, and that is the great Barney Curley, who went to his reward in recent days. He had a particular connection with these Houses. We have important debates that we need to have on gambling and changes that are needed in order to protect people, so it may seem unusual to extol the achievements of a famous gambler, but Barney Curley was a truly exceptional person who did wonderful things for some of the least fortunate people in the world. It was for that reason that in 2015 the then Ceann Comhairle, Seán Barrett, presented him with the Oireachtas human dignity award on the part of the human dignity group.

Barney Curley was famous for his exploits in getting the better of bookies over the years and he did very well in that department, but he was a deadly serious man who devoted much time and energy to and raised millions of euro for the good work being done mainly by missionaries, as I recall, in Africa, particularly Zambia, in the fields of education and healthcare. He was an enigmatic and interesting individual. The phrase "ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann" is often used when maybe it is not always the case, but Barney Curley was certainly a one-off. He worked closely with Irish priests and nuns abroad. Senator Keogan's uncle, Fr. Jim Brady of Kiltegan, worked with Barney Curley. The people near Kavu health centre, in rural Zambia, may remember the name of Barney Curley and many of them may never have heard of Bob Dylan. Ar dheis Dé go raibh Barney Curley.

I wish to raise the issue of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. As we all know, to give false statements in court, either in evidence or by affidavit, amounts to perjury, which is a very serious offence, but there is no provision anywhere in law that would lead to a similar penalty for making false statements to the PIAB. As we know, the PIAB was set up in 2003 to divert personal injury cases away from the courts, but nothing in the legislation contains the words "false", "misleading", "truthful" or anything like that, so somebody could submit an application to the PIAB that could be a tissue of lies but he or she would not have committed an offence. Contrast this with the fair deal legislation of 2009, which provides that somebody who knowingly or recklessly gives false information relating to a material particular could be liable for a fine of up to €5,000 or up to three months in prison. There is a glaring gap in the legislation that I do not think has been brought up in these Houses before. I wish to ask the Government what it thinks of that gap and whether it would see fit to plug it.