The Army deafness early settlement scheme, which has agreed to 4,200 payments since it was established two years ago, is to be abolished, the Minister for Defence announced yesterday
The scheme is being abolished as part of cutbacks in the Department's budget. With an average of 10 claims still being made each week, the Department hopes this decision will result in savings of €5 million.
It was introduced in response to the spiralling cost of claims over the previous eight years. The scheme allowed soldiers to settle their deafness claims without resorting to the courts.
Prior to the introduction of the scheme, all deafness claims were pursued through the courts. The high level of compensation awarded, in addition to the legal costs incurred from contesting each claim, proved expensive.
Since the scheme was introduced, 4,200 claims have been settled, with average payments in the region of €10,000.
This contrasts with settlements of up to €40,000 before the scheme was introduced, according to a spokesman for the Department of Defence.
Up to the end of last month, Army deafness claims had cost €245.7 million, with a total of 12,176 cases settled either in court or through the early settlement scheme. This is out of 16,236 claims made since the issue first arose, with 4,060 still outstanding.
According to the spokesman, the Department plans to settle "as many of these outstanding claims as possible".
He stressed that the abolition of the early settlement scheme would not affect the right of any soldier to make a claim for compensation arising from hearing impairment incurred in the line of duty. Those who still felt they had valid claims could pursue them through the courts.