Written Answers. - Hearing Impairment Claims.
Brendan Howlin
Question:
39
Mr. Howlin
asked the
Minister for Defence
the number of claims for damages for deafness determined in court or settled out of court at the latest date for which figures are available; the number of such claims outstanding; the progress which has been made with the law society regarding the pilot scheme to speed up hearings; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[4013/01]
Michael Finucane
Question:
72
Mr. Finucane
asked the
Minister for Defence
the number of Army deafness claims that are outstanding at present; the number of new cases lodged since 1 January 2001; the number of cases that have been settled; and the overall costs of damages and legal costs to date.
[3905/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 39 and 72 together.
Up to 31 January 2001 a total of 15,543 claims have been lodged and 7,210 settled by means of court awards and out of court settlements. A further 367 have been disposed of by withdrawals and dismissals leaving 7,966 still outstanding. Some £98.6 million, 122.9 million, has been paid to date in damages and a further £40.7 million, 51.7 million, paid in legal fees. In January 2001 the number of new hearing loss claims lodged was 61.
On 25 January 2001 Mr. Justice Johnson agreed to an application on behalf of the State to adjourn hearing loss claims in the Dublin High Court. The adjournment takes effect from 5 February 2001 until 28 March 2001. Its continuation beyond that date will be dependent on the court being satisfied that any average of 150 cases per week can be settled under the early settlement scheme.
In order to meet this target, my Department will endeavour to settle claims on a number of fronts. First, the Chief State Solicitor's office will engage in negotiations with plaintiffs' solicitors. During the year 2000, the Chief State Solicitor's office successfully negotiated settlements in 750 claims by way of direct negotiations with plaintiffs' solicitors and I am confident that they can build on this momentum. Second, my Department has directly engaged the services of five firms of loss adjusters who will act on an agency basis on behalf of the Chief State Solicitor in order to negotiate direct settlements with plaintiffs' solicitors. Third, a number of cases will continue to be listed for trial in the High Court outside Dublin as well as in the Circuit Court throughout the country. In addition, should the above system yield satisfactory levels of settlements, officials of my Department who have accumulated considerable experience dealing with these claims will engage in direct negotiations with plaintiffs' solicitors.
I remain of the view that the early settlement scheme, which to date has settled 1,181 hearing loss claims, is the most efficient mechanism of disposing of the outstanding claims, if the scheme is allowed to develop.
