Smith fears implications of soldier's £219,000 award

The Department of Defence is bracing itself for more compensation claims by soldiers following yesterday's High Court award of £219,000 to a former Army private for non-treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. The money was awarded to Mr David McHugh (36), from East Wall in Dublin, who claimed he had PTSD as a result of a number of incidents when he was in the Army. They included the unexpected discharging of a gun by a sergeant in his presence, and exposure to mutilated corpses in Lebanon.

The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, said the award had "serious implications" for the Exchequer and his Department, which would be appealing the decision to the Supreme Court. The Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Lieut Gen Dave Stapleton, said he was "dismayed" at the decision. He said the events, as described, were "part and parcel" of soldiering and he welcomed the Minister's decision to appeal.

The outcome of the case, which was heard before Christmas, confirmed the worst fears of the Department, which were outlined to the Dail Committee of Public Accounts two weeks ago.

In an obvious reference to the McHugh case, the Secretary General of the Department, Mr David O'Callaghan, told the committee that if the judgment "goes against us, we could face another minor industry". He described PTSD as an "upcoming phenomenon" which was "small but growing".

There are currently 19 cases by soldiers claiming post-traumatic stress disorder pending against the State, a Department spokesman said last night.

However, in making the award yesterday, Mr Justice Budd emphasised that Mr McHugh had not claimed damages because he was subjected to stress or exposed to experiences to be expected by Irish soldiers serving in Lebanon.

The claim was instead based on the negligent failure of the defendants - the Minister for Defence, Ireland and the Attorney General - to recognise and treat the obvious symptoms of Mr McHugh's PTSD.

The judge said he was concerned that there had already been "misinformation" as to what was at issue in the case.

The Fine Gael Defence spokeswoman, Ms Frances Fitzgerald, said it was time the Government stopped "wringing its hands" over the whole Army compensation claims issue and came up with a strategy to deal with it.

The general secretary of the soldiers' representative body, PDFORRA, Mr John Lucey, said anyone would be "taken aback" by the size of the award to Mr McHugh. But he said there was no question of compensation claims for PTSD becoming as numerous as those for hearing loss.