False Army hearing loss claims may push final bill to £2bn

The Department of Defence has learned recently it may be exposed to fraudulent claims by serving and retired Defence Forces personnel, who are bringing legal actions against the State for hearing loss.

Members of the all-party Committee of Public Accounts have expressed outrage after being told of the possibility of false claims and at the confirmation that the State may face a final bill of up to £2 billion.

Department secretary Mr David O'Callaghan confirmed that while it wanted to settle cases quickly where people were deafened by arms fire, some people with perfect hearing for their age were getting court awards in region of £20,000 to £45,000. Mr O'Callaghan said no successful claim has been brought since new protection measures were introduced by the Defence Forces in 1987.

The US system of measuring high tone hearing loss, which has been adopted by many other countries, was not being accepted in Irish courts, he said. No other state with an army had been subjected to such a level of claims.

Mr O'Callaghan said setting up a tribunal would be premature until a suitable hearing loss measurement system was in place - one is expected early in 1998.

"Our ear, nose and throat specialists are saying people with little or no handicap are getting substantial sums of money. In the US, UK or any other jurisdiction, they would not get compensation," Mr O'Callaghan said.

When pressed to explain why Ireland had so many claims, Mr O'Callaghan said the reasons were "a very litigious society; no accepted measurement system for high-tone hearing loss and a very generous judiciary".

He did not believe there was a "widespread scam", but the Department had been alerted to differences in hearing test results under the audiogram procedure which all claimants had to undergo. A distinction between exposure to heavy noise just prior to the test or carrying out the test a week later was not made.

It was possible to doctor the outcome by playing a Walkman at very high volumes for hours prior to the test, or by attending a disco where loud music was being played. This could result in what was known as "a temporary threshold shift" in hearing. Where fraud was suspected, a claimant could be set to Beaumont Hospital, in Dublin, for a CER test, which evaluates brain patterns and was impossible to fake. The Department's medical advisers were considering bringing in claimants overnight prior to testing.

The Department had to set up a unit with 20 civil servants to deal with claims. The Chief State Solicitor's office had taken on an additional 20 solicitors and up to 10 Army officers were involved full-time on cases. "It's a huge assault on the Exchequer."

Committee chairman, Mr Jim Mitchell (FG), said that such was the importance of the issue that he had undergone an audiogram to evaluate the process. He accepted there were genuine cases, but added: "Let's be blunt about this. There are no other defence forces in the world where this has happened. Anybody who thinks this is not a scam must be blind. We are the laughing stock among defence forces around the world.

"It has the potential not only to cost up to £2 billion, but to undermine confidence in the Defence Forces," he warned.

Mr Michael Bell (Lab) said, as a former Army officer, he had no doubt that the Defence Force authorities had been negligent. The Department deserved what it got because of "pure unadulterated negligence".

Commenting on the rate of case increases, Mr Pat Rabbitte(DL) said, it was "virus-like". The sums of money involved suggested what had been found in Ireland was "an instrument for redistribution of wealth, not heard of in any other countries yet."