Claims by two people who fell into potholes were among the public liability claims against Offaly County Council last year.
According to council documents, the council in 2001 paid out more than €245,000 (£193,000) in claims, a figure that includes settlements and legal fees.
The majority of claims concerned accidents on roadways and footpaths.
The council paid about €128,000 (£100,000) in settlements and its legal costs amounted to about €43,000 (£33,000). Legal fees the council paid to claimants totalled around €74,000 (£58,000).
A case in which Mr Fintan Larkin, Riverstown, Birr, claimed he fell into a pothole at Emmet Square in Birr in 1995 was settled for slightly more than €20,000 (£16,250) outside the High Court in 2000.
Legal costs of more than €18,000 were paid by the council. Mr Larkin could not be contacted for comment yesterday.
The other case involving a fall into a pothole is ongoing.
Some 15 public liability claims received in 2001 are outstanding against Offaly County Council.
Westmeath County Council said 85 public liability claims were lodged against it last year, most of them concerning road and footpath incidents.
But there may be further claims lodged against both county councils in 2002 which relate to last year, because three years are allowed in law to lodge a claim in court for personal injuries and five years to lodge a claim for damage to property.
Mr Donal O'Sullivan, assistant general manager, Irish Public Bodies Mutual Insurances Ltd, which insures local authorities, said premiums for local authorities have, in certain cases, risen from between 50 and 100 per cent.
On the general issue of public liability insurance, and in common with the commercial sphere, Mr O'Sullivan's company is concerned about the rising cost of genuine cases as well as of exaggerated and fraudulent claims.
"Obviously it is a problem," he said.
County councils operate in the same court environment as commercial companies and so faced the same difficulties concerning these cases, said Mr O'Sullivan.
These include the difficulty in successfully defending a claim, the increased cost of claims, and the level of legal costs, he said.
Local authority sources are also concerned about what they see as the rising costs of damages.
Business leaders recently called for law reform on fraudulent and exaggerated personal injury claims.
The cost of personal injury compensation was more than €2 billion (£1.58 billion) for 2001, according to Mr Tony Briscoe, assistant director of social policy at IBEC.
Ms Carmel Mulroy, policy executive, Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, said the organisation wanted a personal injuries assessment board established to decide these sorts of cases, rather than going through the courts.
Mr O'Sullivan said any system that reduced legal costs would be welcome.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment said "it is envisaged that local authorities and county councils would be included" in the personal injuries assessment board, which the Government has promised to establish.
However, this cannot be confirmed until an inter-departmental group publishes a report on the board, said the spokeswoman.
Two of the claims settled last year in Co Offaly concerned damage to cars on roadways.