The Government is to attempt to expose Army deafness claimants to major financial risks if they sue the State through the courts rather than seek redress from the planned compensation board.
A Bill will attempt to ensure that soldiers seeking compensation for hearing loss through the courts will have to pay the costs of both sides unless they can prove they had a good reason for bypassing the compensation board, to be established later this year.
The costs of a typical day's personal injuries action could be up to £10,000, according to legal sources. The risk of facing such a bill would provide a major disincentive to claimants.
Officials drafting the heads of the Bill are examining means of exposing court claimants to this risk while at the same time not conflicting with the constitutional right of citizens to take cases in the courts. The Cabinet gave the go-ahead for the legislation at its meeting on Wednesday in Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon.
The legislation to establish the compensation board may be enacted before the summer as the Government moves to end the long-running Army deafness saga. Hearing loss claims have cost the State £100 million and seriously damaged the image of the Defence Forces. The Government hopes that the new board will take almost all deafness claims out of the courts.
A time limit as short as three months after the new board is established will be set, after which new hearing loss claims cannot be made. The Government hopes this will end the stream of claims which has continued since the mid-1990s.
Department of Defence officials will shortly have discussions with the Law Society and the solicitors representing the largest numbers of Defence Forces' claimants to try to ensure the smooth introduction of the compensation board.
The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, has moved quickly to take advantage of a Supreme Court judgment last month which will lead to a substantial reduction in the cost to the State of hearing loss claims.
The Supreme Court, passing judgment in the appeal of the State against a £50,575 award to Pte Kevin Hanley, of Limerick, broadly accepted the scale of awards proposed by the State. The formula would give claimants about £1,500 for every percentage point of hearing loss, with a further amount for aggravation of this hearing loss caused later by age.
Now that the Supreme Court has broadly approved a specific scale - while warning that it cannot be applied rigidly in all cases - Mr Smith intends to establish the compensation board which will decide on the level of award for each successful claimant.
The Government hopes that the broad approval of the scale by the Supreme Court will persuade claimants that the courts will no longer approve awards greater than those set down. This will take such cases out of the courts, therefore saving substantial sums in legal costs.