Vol. 485 No. 3
91 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Defence the progress, if any, he has made in reducing the legal costs associated with the deafness compensation claims; if he will report on his recent meeting with the Incorporated Law Society. [23261/97]
As I said during the Adjournment Debate last Wednesday, a huge amount of taxpayers' money is at stake and we must ensure that every effort is made to contain this expenditure while at the same time having regard to the legitimate claims of those serving and former members of the Defence Forces who may have been genuinely injured. However, the State does not accept the current level of quantum because it believes that this is too high. Furthermore, a rapid settlement policy whether by a tribunal or some other scheme would be effectively an unwarranted admission of liability. This would in turn have the effect of inducing many more claims. The present strategy of running selected cases is in fact producing results. A number of cases, albeit small, have been dismissed by the courts and more importantly the overall level of quantum has been reducing, particularly in this last legal term. Pending the production of the Irish handicap assessment system by the Department of Health it is my view, and that of the Government, that current strategy should be continued at least in the short-term, for as long as it yields such results. The Expert Group of Ear, Nose and Throat Consultants and an Audiologist, convened by the Department of Health and tasked with developing an Irish hearing handicap assessment system has now met. It is hoped they will be in a position to report early in the new year.
Officials of my Department met with representatives of the Law Society on Tuesday, 9 December 1997 and had a useful exchange of views on the whole question of hearing loss litigation. They proposed to the Society that solicitors handling these cases reduce their fees by 50 per cent in view of the volume of litigation being processed. The representatives said they would take this back for consideration. A further meeting to work out a common approach to solving this problem was agreed. They were also told of my concern in relation to solicitors' advertising and the role this plays in fuelling this problem. The Government yesterday decided to examine this issue as a matter of urgency.
Again I emphasise that the Government is prepared to compensate those who have suffered a genuine injury and who are suffering a significant handicap. What it is not prepared to do is waste taxpayers' money on compensating individuals whose hearing is normal for their age or whose handicap is so small that they did not notice it until they spotted an advertisement in the paper inducing them to make a claim.
92 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Defence if he will outline the number of deafness compensation claims that have been dealt with. [23263/97]
On 30 November this year settlements had been reached in a total of 1,007 cases and court awards following hearings had been made in 28 cases. A further 29 cases were successfully defended or withdrawn. Compensation of £26.249 million and plaintiff costs of £4.492 million has been paid in respect of 1,064 cases finalised. The current average settlement is approximately £22,000 but this is within a wide range of awards and settlements from as low as £4,000. Total legal costs in general are about 30 per cent of the award or settlement. On 30 November 853 had been finalised this year.
