Claims alleging hearing impairment from exposure to gunfire were being received from current and former military personnel at the rate of 100 per week, the Minister for Defence, Mr Barrett, told the Dail last night.
The avalanche of claims had begun in 1992, he said. Last year, 2,522 claims were received and so far this year there had been an additional 1934 cases.
He said the major issue facing the State was the present high degree of compensation awarded by the courts for hearing patterns which, he was advised, in other jurisdictions would be regarded as being within the normal range and which would attract little or no compensation.
"Clearly against this background I have a duty to the taxpayer to fight those cases where the level of handicap is not significant when judged against internationally accepted criteria," he said.
The Minister said every avenue to minimise the cost to the 1 State had been explored and the strategy adopted was under constant review.
He was replying in an adjournment debate to Mr Sean Power (FF) who called for a special forum to be set up to deal with such compensation claims.