The outcome of a Supreme Court appeal by the Minister for Defence against an "excessive" award of damages in an Army deafness case is expected to have major implications for other such cases. The £50,575 award by the High Court to Pte Kevin Hanley was based on a new formula for assessing damages and has set a precedent.
The appeal opened yesterday and resumes on Tuesday. The Chief Justice, Mr Justice Hamilton, said that if the Minister did not like the formula set by Mr Justice Johnson, which the Minister had requested of the judge, why had he not drawn up his own formula for the court?
Mr James Nugent SC, for the Minister, said he thought a formula in words had been put, and it would be unusual to put a written formula.
Presenting the appeal, Mr Frank Clarke SC, also for the Minister, said the State had invited Mr Justice Johnson to set out a formula which could be of assistance in other cases when the judge was deciding damages for Pte Hanley (35), Old Cork Road, Limerick, in respect of a current hearing disability of 9 per cent and a projected 22 per cent disability at age 60.
The Minister's problem was with the judge's conversion of that formula into money and particularly his adoption of a "base-line" figure of £1,500 for each percentage of disability at age 60.
He argued damages awarded for total deafness ranged from £125,000£175,000, and in that context an award of £50,575 for the disability suffered by Pte Hanley was excessive. A base-line figure of £750 for each percentage of disability would be more appropriate, he suggested.
The judge said that while the Green Book, introduced by legislation last year as a means of calculating hearing impairment in terms of percentage disability, was a fair means of calculating disability, it had some serious gaps, including no provision for future deterioration caused by a combination of noise-induced hearing loss and age-related hearing loss.
He agreed with a previous decision that £1,500 was appropriate for one degree of disability at age 60 and produced a table setting out what figures were applicable at other ages.