Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 29 Sep 1999

Vol. 508 No. 1

Written Answers. - Hearing Impairment Claims.

Noel Ahern

Ceist:

249 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Defence the number of serving Defence Forces personnel who received compensation for hearing loss; the number of these subsequently promoted; if hearing tests are taken at promotional competitions; the number and percentage of applicants who have shown improved hearing over that shown when they received their compensation; and the conclusions, if any, that can be drawn as a result of this. [17664/99]

Minister for Defence (Mr. M. Smith):

A total of 1,237 serving members of the Defence Forces have received either court awards or out of court settlements for their hearing loss compensation claims. Twenty seven members were promoted subsequent to receiving an award or settlement.

All personnel who are selected for promotion undergo a hearing test, but the standard of hearing required may depend on the appointment being filled. Information in relation to the standard of hearing shown by the 27 personnel promoted subsequent to receiving compensation is not readily available but I will forward it to the Deputy as soon as possible.

It should be understood that in the normal course of audiometry there can be a tolerable standard error between different tests of up to ten decibels and more. It is also emphasised that, in the case of audiometry done on Defence Force claimants, special attention is paid to detect any attempts at malingering. Recourse is regularly had to cortical evoked-response audiometry – CERA – tests.