Vol. 495 No. 4
13 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of claims for compensation for deafness from current or retired members of the Garda Síochána; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20361/98]
A total of 72 gardaí and retired members of the force have lodged claims for hearing loss against the State since 1982. A significant proportion of these — 53 out of the 72 — were lodged in the past two years. Eight cases have been settled to date. One of the cases related to a single incident where mortars, found in a bunker, were being detonated. The remainder relate to claims from members who underwent firearms training and practice some time ago. These cases have been settled at an average cost of £32,000.
Gardaí are not exposed to gunfire to the same extent as soldiers. Only members of special units would have any appreciable exposure to gunfire and their exposure would be low compared to soldiers in the Army. Estimates of the risk of damage to hearing are generally based on average exposure over periods of weeks and years. Recent reports commissioned by the Garda indicate that the necessary hearing protection is in existence to protect against the possibility of hearing loss to members of the force who would be exposed to noise. It complies with legislation concerning the protection of workers from the risk related to exposure to noise at work. The requirement for gardaí to wear adequate protection when undergoing firearms training has been rigidly enforced since the early 1980s.
While the scale of the problem is not comparable to the situation in the Defence Forces nevertheless, officials in my Department have been in discussions with the Garda Síochána, the Attorney General's office, the Chief State Solicitor's office and the Department of Defence on the issue. The problem is being monitored very carefully and arrangements are in place to ensure that every claim is thoroughly investigated.
(Mayo): Will the Minister agree that the amount of training in and day to day use of fire-arms by members of the Garda is far less than that of soldiers in view of the fact that they are not using artillery? Will he agree that, based on the fact that the High Court decided some time ago that a 2 per cent hearing loss entitled one to £30,000 and that the average figure for Army deafness claims seems to be working out at £34,000, given that there have been 72 claims to date, one is talking about in the region of £2.5 million, in addition to legal costs if these cases are found to be valid? Has he ascertained if those members making claims are current members or former members? Were they members before 1983 when mandatory wearing of hearing protection was introduced for the Garda?
It is true that the potential cost to the Exchequer would be in the region of £32,000 per claim. This would give a total liability in respect of the 64 outstanding cases in the order of £2 million. That of course would be based on the average cost of past settlements. I am not for one moment suggesting that the State has a liability in respect of the 64 outstanding cases. Indeed, today the plaintiff in a contested case withdrew a claim against the Department. Liability generally is not something which will be conceded easily. Each case will be thoroughly investigated. I assure the House that there can and will be no question of any individual being successful without his claim having received a thorough and detailed investigation by the Garda authorities.
The scale of claims by both retired and serving members of the force is minuscule compared to the number of cases lodged by members of the Army. For that reason there is no necessity to establish a tribunal.
(Mayo): Has the Minister established whether or not included among the claimants there are some people from the Garda Band? Has he established whether there have been claims in respect of other police forces in the EU, or is this a peculiarly Irish phenomenon?
Obviously it would not be possible for me to say off the top of my head what is the position internationally. I will look at the situation to see if there are any claims from members of the Garda Band though as of now I am not personally aware that there are. I can only express the hope that the gardaí, Deputy Higgins and I, in this context, are singing from the same charge sheet.
