A former soldier who sued the State for ruining his career prospects after he suffered hearing loss has settled his action for more than €40,000.
Gerard Eustace, a father of three who had spent 13 years in the Army, was subsequently turned down for a job in the Garda because of a hearing loss in his left ear. He later secured a position with Esat.
On the third day of his High Court case yesterday, Mr Eustace (36), of Castle Rheban, Athy, Co Kildare, settled his action against the Minister for Defence, the Attorney General and the Garda Commissioner. He would only have secured around €4,000 if he had pursued his claim under guidelines set down by the Government. His claim for loss of potential earnings and loss of pension rights was a test case.
Mr Eustace had told the court that six of his technician colleagues in the Army Signal Corps secured jobs in the Garda telecommunications section during the "brain drain" from the Army in the 1990s. However, he lost out on a job because of a hearing loss.
Pádraig McCartan SC, for Mr Eustace, said he would have been paid more in the Garda job than in his current position. He also lost out on the prospect of transferring his Army pension entitlement.
Mr Eustace joined the Army in 1987 as an apprentice radio technician and later joined the Signal Corps. He was promoted to corporal in 1995 and was involved in training others to fire weapons. He said those soldiers were issued with muffs in 1997 which "generally worked ". In July 1999, he claimed he became aware that he had suffered damage to his hearing due to exposure to gunfire and heavy artillery without any adequate ear protection.