Taxpayers are on course to pay about £275 million to soldiers partially deafened by gunfire, the report has confirmed. When the State's own legal costs are taken into account, the final bill is likely to be about £350 million.
In his report, the Comptroller does not attempt to estimate the total cost of the soldiers' claims, saying only that it is an "unquantifiable but significant contingent liability on the State".
However, the costs of compensation settlements and court cases so far suggest the average claim costs more than £30,600 per soldier, in compensation and legal payments, and before the State's legal costs are taken into account.
Up to the end of last month, 8,956 claims had been lodged with the Department of Defence.
