The early settlement scheme for army deafness claims will be abolished for new cases from tomorrow.
The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, made the announcement earlier today while on visit to Kosovo.
The scheme, which has been in operation for two years, has cost €245 million in awards and legal costs involving 12,176 cases. There are 4,060 cases still on hand and they will be dealt with under the scheme but, any new cases will have to be brought before the courts.
A spokesperson for the Minister said that on average there are 10 new cases a week. Each case costs, on average, €10,000, amounting to a total cost of approximately €5 million annually.