A former Army colonel decorated for his bravery during an attack on Irish troops in the Congo in 1961 has settled his action against the State for hearing loss for a substantial sum, believed to be about £70,000 and costs.
After hearing earlier evidence Mr Justice Johnson said he would like to know who in the Army decided not to requisition ear protection from 1983 and would also like to know who was responsible for not ordering sufficient ear muffs in 1987. The judge required an explanation.
However, after the case was settled, no further evidence was called. Col Anthony Murphy (62), Ashton Close, Templeogue, Dublin was given the Distinguished Service Medal for his "courageous and aggressive" action which prevented enemy forces gaining a foothold at the Kamina base in the Congo.
His action for damages for hearing loss opened on Tuesday, but yesterday Mr Justice Johnson was told by Mr Padraig McCartan SC, for Col Murphy, that the case was settled.
Earlier Mr Justice Johnson, who heard most of the High Court deafness claims by Army personnel, asked the State to produce those Army officials who decided not to requisition ear protectors between 1983 and 1986. The judge made the request after being told by a hearing expert that Army documents from the period revealed ear protection had not been purchased since 1983.
Mr Niall Lydon, a consulting engineer, was giving evidence on behalf of Col Murphy. The degree of exposure to gunfire experienced by Col Murphy was the highest Mr Lydon had come across.
Mr Lydon said Army Regulations of 1955 required that officers ensured cotton wool was available to those who required it. In 1961, a new regulation required that Vaseline be added to the cotton wool and that position continued until 1973 when ear plugs were introduced.
Mr Lydon said the issuing of these plugs appeared to have been very haphazard over the next 10 years.
In 1986 a board set up under the director of ordnance reported that the ideal solution was to provide hearing protection measures which would reduce noise levels below the danger limit of 90 decibels.
This meant a limitation on the number of rounds fired by a person each day and a requirement for a period of quiet to allow a soldier's hearing to recover.
Mr Lydon said he had discovered from 1986 Army documents that ear protection equipment had not been generally issued to personnel since 1983 and no new purchases were made from 1986 except for a small quantity for specialised firing.
Mr Justice Johnson remarked that general routine orders had required the wearing of ear protection and someone had taken a decision not to provide the equipment.
Mr Lydon said it appeared so. In 1991 the concept of wearing ear muffs was introduced. He had interviewed more than 4,000 Army men and none in recent years - the early to mid-1990s - had received proper instruction on how to fit ear defenders.
Ear muffs had been recommended in the 1986 report but the number of people who received them before 1990 was very small.