Vol. 548 No. 3
59 Ms Shortall 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 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. [4689/02]
By 31 January 2002 a total of 16,094 claims had been received in my Department from current and former members of the Defence Forces in respect of loss of hearing allegedly caused during their military service. Some 254 claims have been the subject of court awards with a further 10,331 being disposed of through out-of-court settlements. A further 467 claims were either withdrawn by plaintiffs or dismissed by the courts. Some 5,042 claims are still outstanding.
Following the judgment of the Supreme Court in the leading Army hearing loss case of Hanley, which was delivered in December 1999, my Department in conjunction with the Chief State Solicitor's Office in consultation with the Law Society of Ireland, established an early settlement scheme for dealing with the outstanding Army hearing loss litigation claims. The scheme operated successfully on a pilot basis during the year 2000 and 1,099 claims were settled by way of direct negotiations between solicitors representing plaintiffs and officials of the Chief State Solicitor's Office and my Department.
The second phase of the early settlement scheme for the disposal of Army hearing loss claims commenced in January 2001. At that time five firms of loss adjusters were engaged to augment the resources of the Chief State Solicitor's Office in negotiating settlements with plaintiffs' solicitors. This second phase of the early settlement scheme has been successful in settling a further 2,420 cases.
I am happy at the success of the scheme and the results achieved and hope that the vast majority of the 5,042 outstanding claims will be settled in this way, so that the remaining plaintiffs can have their claims resolved at fair levels of compensation with significant savings to the Exchequer in court costs.
