The State paid out almost Eur 42 million in personal injury compensation to soldiers and civilians working in the Defence Forces last year, it has emerged.
New figures obtained by The Irish Times show that Eur 33.1 million was paid in respect of hearing loss to serving and former members of the Defence Forces. More than Eur 8.5 million was paid in respect of training and operational injuries and slips, trips and falls.
Civilians in Defence-related road traffic accidents and incidents involving weapons and explosives also received substantial amounts last year.
The largest 20 amounts paid out by the Department of Defence come to almost Eur 5 million, seven times more than the Eur 700,000 paid out as part of the top 20 complaints within the Garda Síochána in 2002.
The Department of Defence refused to disclose the incidents which led to the more significant payouts. A spokesman said that disclosing the nature of accidents would reveal the identity of claimants to many of their colleagues.
However, the spokesman said that the vast majority of the claims would have arisen from injuries sustained on active duty both at home and abroad and on training exercises.
The single biggest payment to a member of the Defence Forces last year was Eur 2,116,230. That was followed by two payments of Eur 253,947 to two individuals. There were two further payments of Eur 250,000 and another of Eur 224,000.
A further seven awards in excess of Eur 100,000 were made, while the remaining seven awards in the top 20 ranged between Eur 70,000 and Eur 95,000. The largest 20 payments totalled just over Eur 4.9 million.
The most substantial payments to Defence Forces staff are significantly higher than the awards made to gardaí in the same period. While the top 20 Defence awards amounted to almost Eur 5 million, the top 20 awards paid to gardaí amounted to just over Eur 700,000.
The biggest Garda award was Eur 82,533 to a member who sustained injuries during training at the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary. This compares with the biggest Defence award of over Eur 2.1 million.
The huge difference in the levels of compensation paid to gardaí can be accounted for by the fact that serving personnel with the Defence Forces are often involved in more high-risk training more frequently than are gardaí.
Members of the Defence Forces are regularly engaged in operations with live ammunition, but only a small number of gardaí would engage in limited firearms training.
Civilian claims from Defence in the 2002 period amounted to just over Eur 700,000. These payments were mostly made to staff working at the Department's three offices in Dublin and at its office in Galway. Road traffic accidents accounted for much of the civilian payout, which totalled Eur 466,806. Almost Eur 130,000 was paid to civilians in weapons and explosives accidents.
