Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 17 Dec 1997

Vol. 485 No. 3

Written Answers. - Legal Fees.

Michael Bell

Ceist:

130 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Defence the sum of legal expenses paid in each of the years from 1992 to date in 1997 in relation to Votes under this control; the main categories of this expenditure; and the sums liable for payment but not paid. [23309/97]

Minister for Defence (Mr. M. Smith)

The total amount paid by my Department in respect of legal fees is as follows:

		Main categories of expenditure
Year	Total	Loss of hearing claims	Other personal injury claims
	£'000	£'000	£'000
1992	703	58	637
1993	734	71	640
1994	1,048	124	898
1995	1,396	316	994
1996	2,003	706	1,264
1997 to date	5,263	3,885	1,316

Legal fees are still outstanding in about 700 personal injury claims, mostly loss of hearing claims, where awards have been made or settlements reached. It is not possible to accurately quantify the amount involved but it is estimated to be in the region of £5 million.