An Army NCO who said he suffered noise-induced tinnitus (a ringing in the ears) because his hearing was not protected on firing ranges was awarded £15,000 in the High Court yesterday.
In another case yesterday, in which £7,500 was awarded, Mr Justice Johnson said he found it "astonishing" that a hearing specialist called by the State had not read the Department of Defence's most recent regulations for the grading of hearing ability within the Defence Forces.
In the first case, Cpl Martin Thomas Malone (40), of St Jude's, Kildare Road, Brownstown, the Curragh, who served with the Defence Forces for 16 years, said he suffered from tinnitus he believed resulted from unprotected exposure to gunfire and the firing of heavy weapons.
It prevented him sleeping and compelled him to get up early in the morning, sometimes around 4.30 a.m.
Cpl Malone, a weapons instructor, said the tinnitus had extremely disrupted his life, but he would regard hearing loss he might have as minimal.
Mr Justice Johnson, finding in his favour, said that while the plaintiff was not complaining about impaired hearing, there was no doubt that he had been exposed to noise without adequate ear protection. Cpl Malone was awarded £15,000.
In a second case yesterday, a former soldier now working as an electrician in England said he had tinnitus which was the result of noise exposure during his Army service in 1980-85.
Mr Bernard O'Keeffe (35) said that, in addition to rifle, grenade and mortar-noise exposure, he had also been subject, during an engineers' course, to noise from heavy explosives.
Mr O'Keeffe, formerly of Road House, Brownstown, the Curragh, said he now had a buzzing or ringing in his ears which lasted from half an hour to several hours.
Mr William Grant, a hearing specialist, said Mr O'Keeffe had a mild hearing deficit. He would advise him to wear double ear protection if still with the Army.
Mr Vivian Kelly, a hearing specialist, for the State, said he believed Mr O'Keeffe's hearing was within normal limits for a 35year-old man.
In his opinion, Mr O'Keeffe had no hearing loss.
Asked by Mr Justice Johnson if he had bothered to read the Department of Defence's own regulations for the grading of hearing ability within the Defence Forces, Mr Kelly said he had not.
Awarding Mr O'Keeffe £7,500 in damages, the judge said he found it astonishing that an expert witness called by the State had not read the Minister for Defence's most recent regulations in regard to hearing ability.