The Department of Defence has paid out more than €250 million in compensation to soldiers who suffered deafness while in the service, it emerged today.
A spokesman said deafness claims paid out to serving and former members of the defence forces are likely to cost a further €100 million.
New claims are still being received by the ministry at the rateof 10 a week from serving and retired members of the defence forces- some of them dating back as far at the 1960s.
Since the army deafness saga began ten years ago, over 16,344 claims have beenreceived - almost double the current strength of the army. Of these, 13,396 have been dealt with and 2,948 are still outstanding.
At one stage it was feared the final compensation bill would be between €1.3 and €1.9 billion.
AFP