The president of the Law Society, Mr Ken Murphy, has written to the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, inviting him to meet solicitors with a view to establishing a better system for dealing with claims by Army personnel for damaged hearing.
Mr Murphy told The Irish Times that lawyers wanted to ensure the costs involved were minimised, rather than maximised because of the way the Government was defending the cases. The State was fighting cases on the grounds that it was not liable for the damage. It was winning only a tiny fraction on this point, yet 95 per cent were being fought by the State on liability. The State was also fighting cases on the grounds that they had taken too long to come before the courts.
The Law Society was suggesting a better system of claims management. The cases had been heard in different courts by different judges and the pattern of judgments showed there was no prospect of most cases being won on liability. Cases could be put in for assessment for damage only.
The present system meant there was a great deal of extra work bringing in witnesses of fact and expert witnesses and every day cases were being settled at the door of the court, but witnesses were still having to travel there.
Costs could be cut by 25 percent if the system was more streamlined.
He said the emphasis on legal costs was really a transparent attempt by the State to divert attention from the real scandal which was the shameful neglect of the health and safety of its employees.