The final bill for Army deafness claims is expected to be about €300 million when the remainder of the almost 17,000 cases are finally settled, writes Marie O'Halloran.
This week Mr Smith said €272.1 million has been paid out to date in settlements of claims from current and former members of the Defence Forces who alleged hearing loss during their military service.
Of that amount, €90.6 million has been for legal fees.
"It is anticipated that the final costs of Army hearing loss litigation will be in the region of €300 million," he informed Mr Jim O'Keeffe (FG, Cork South-West) and Mr Brian O'Shea (Lab, Waterford).
There are 1,822 claims outstanding and of the total, 327 cases were determined in court and 14,539 were dealt with mainly through settlements.
He told Ms Kathleen Lynch (Lab, Cork North-Central) that he has referred 344 cases to the State Claims Agency, which deals with all cases against Government departments.
Of those 344 cases, 74 have been settled and 507 remained to be dealt with, including cases lodged before the agency was set up in 2001.
US military landings at Shannon
There were 256 foreign military aircraft landings in Ireland at Shannon in the 11 months to the end of November, and 1,321 landings of commercial aircraft leased to the US military, according to figures released by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen.
A total of 579 sought exemption from the order which regulates the carriage of weapons and explosives by civilian aircraft through Irish airspace, the Minister told Mr Finian McGrath (Ind, Dublin North-Central).