The Minister for Defence is to seek an adjournment of all Army compensation cases due before the High Court until a report recommending a standard measurement for hearing loss is completed.
The issue is expected to be argued in the court tomorrow. If the State application for an adjournment of all cases is granted, it will lead to delays at least until the end of February when the report is expected.
The report, under the auspices of the Department of Health, aims to recommend a system for obtaining a standard scientific assessment and measurement of hearing loss and relating it to handicap.
At a Dail Committee of Public Accounts meeting yesterday, the Secretary of the Department of Health, Mr Gerry O'Dwyer, said the target for completion of the report was the end of February.
The report, known as the Green Book, is being drawn up by a committee comprising eight medical professionals, including ear, nose and throat hospital consultants, a senior registrar, a medical adviser from the Health and Safety Authority and a Department of Health official.
Until now, there has been an absence of an accepted system in the State for assessing hearing loss. Often there has been conflicting medical opinion in the courts.
Systems in other countries also vary. For example, the American AMA system has different standards from the UK method of assessment.
Yesterday, at the Dail committee, the Department of Defence Secretary, Mr David O'Callaghan, said the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, had asked his legal team to seek an adjournment of all these cases, pending the publication of the Green Book, and this would be argued in the High Court tomorrow.
"The whole thing could change when the Green Book is published," he said. Two High Court judges were assigned to hear the Army compensation cases with the intention of introducing consistency and speeding up the process. New writs are being filed against the Department of Defence at the rate of 150 per week, and the numbers had not yet peaked, the committee was told.
The Department of Defence is seeking 20 extra staff to deal with the cases coming in. The cost of the existing 24 staff working on the cases at present was £400,000 last year. Committee members were also told that a personal injuries tribunal, where liability was not contested, was one of the issues being looked at.