Deafness claims by soldiers have dropped from a monthly average of 609 in 1997 to just under 100 a month this year, the Minister for Defence told the Dail.
Mr Smith said 63 claims were received in March this year and 129 in April.
Awards and legal costs in dealing with the claims had so far totalled £78.2 million. Of this £58.2 million was paid in 2,983 out-of-court settlements, while a further £2.8 million went on 168 court awards. The State had paid £17.2 million to date in plaintiffs' legal costs. Administrative costs were £2.7 million a year.
Speaking during Defence Questions Mr Smith said that 33 per cent of cases were from serving members of the Defence Forces and 67 per cent from former members.
He was asked by Fine Gael's defence spokeswoman, Ms Frances Fitzgerald, about the level of progress he had made with the Incorporated Law Society on the legal fees their members charged for dealing with these cases.
Mr Smith said: "I would have wished to have been able to make more progress with the Law Society on a scale of costs which would reflect the similarity of a great number of these cases, but so far this has not been achieved."