An adjournment by the High Court of Army deafness compensation claims would provide a "breathing space" in dealing with the litigation, according to the Minister of State for Defence, Mr Seamus Brennan.

More than 11,500 soldiers have begun litigation for hearing loss, he said. A total of 1,539 cases had been finalised at a cost of £41.679 million, which included plaintiffs' legal costs of £5.890 million. Some 51 cases had been withdrawn or dismissed.

He said adjournment would allow for the publication of an expert group's report on an assessment of hearing handicap. Mr Brennan told Fine Gael's Defence spokeswoman, Ms Frances Fitzgerald, that he was doing everything in his power to protect the taxpayer's interests.

Ms Fitzgerald maintained that the number of claims had increased from 100 to 160 a week as a result of the recent media campaign.

She also said that the number of claims apparently increased dramatically following the leaking of advice by the then Attorney General, Mr Harry Whelehan, in 1993 that "if these cases make their way into court they could not be defended".

The advice to the State apparently made its way to plaintiffs. It stated that "in the great majority of cases the information upon which the Army would have to rely in order to establish a safe system of work is simply not available and therefore the plaintiff's case cannot be contradicted and this applies particularly to personnel who served and fired weapons prior to 1987".

Ms Fitzgerald asked for details of the Minister's application to the court, but he said it would be inappropriate to provide it.