Legal costs account for a third of the €276.8 million cost to the State to date of settling hearing loss claims.
The claims for damage caused by inadequate protection from hearing impairment caused by gunfire involved 16,700 former and current members of the Defence Forces.
The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, said the average award per case in 2004 had dropped to €5,714 - compared to the average in 2003 of €8,605. In 1997, when Mr Smith took office the average claim was settled for more than €30,000.
The rate of claims is declining down to one per week in 2004 compared with 11 a week in 2002. Some 1,357 claims remain to be settled.