A former Army private whose wife has a serious heart condition yesterday claimed they had been treated harshly by the Minister for Defence.
Mr John Ryan (53) from Orchard Park, Curragh, Co Kildare, settled his High Court claim for hearing loss against the State for an undisclosed sum. He and his wife Nuala (51) have spent the past two weeks in the Four Courts waiting for his case to be called.
He could not leave his wife behind as there was no one to look after her, Mr Ryan said. They have had to rely on a friend to drive them to court each day as they cannot afford a car.
Mrs Ryan, who also suffers from oedema, came to court each day in a wheelchair.
The couple have been to the Four Courts on eight days waiting for Mr Ryan's case to be called.
"This is a disgrace," Mrs Ryan said. "We feel we are being treated as second-class citizens. With so many courts and judges in the Four Courts you would expect to get your case on in reasonable time."
Mr Ryan said the Minister's representatives could and should have offered him terms on the first day his case was listed - July 3rd - rather than wait until they were on the steps of the court and about to embark on the hearing of his claim.
Legal sources claimed that not only had Mr Ryan to wait around but that experts called on his behalf had to attend court each day. In Mr Ryan's case there is a daily fee to be paid to an acoustics expert and an audiologist, apart from legal costs.
His legal advisers told Mr Ryan to bring his wife to court in case she was needed to give evidence in support of his claim.
It is alleged the courts are dealing with only a small number of Army deafness claims each week.
The lawyers claim the blame lies with a Ministerial policy of refusing to negotiate any settlement until the case is due to go into the courtroom.
The result is that soldiers such as Mr Ryan can wait for days before their cases are called. Only then does the Minister offer settlement terms.
One legal source said: "If the Minister is anxious to reduce the expense of Army cases then he is going the wrong way about it. Every day that a soldier has to wait around the Four Courts for his case to be called, the expenses are mounting and needlessly so."