The Minister for Defence, Mr Michael Smith, hopes the number of Army hearing damage claims to be settled out of court will have doubled before the High Court resumes hearing the cases, writes Jim Cusack, Security Editor.
Mr Smith's Department has made about 700 offers of settlement so far. These offers are based on the High Court findings of last December in which a tariff of roughly £1,500 per degree of disability was drawn up.
So far, some 5,284 cases have been settled with a total cost of damages and legal fees to the State of £112.4 million. A further 9,357 cases are pending.
