Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

A total of 16,760 claims have been received in my Department from current and former members of the Defence Forces in respect of loss of hearing allegedly caused during their military service. Of the claims, 15,605 have been disposed of, leaving a total of 1,155 outstanding. Some €280.9 million has been paid in respect of hearing loss claims, including €95 million in plaintiffs' legal costs. The plaintiffs' legal costs include the fees of the solicitors' firms as well as other costs such as those arising from counsel fees, medical reports etc.

In general, the Office of the Chief State Solicitor pays the costs of the State's legal team. This includes counsel fees, medical fees and fees for expert witnesses, State solicitors, stenographers etc. These costs are charged to the Vote of the Office of the Chief State Solicitor.

The Office of the Chief State Solicitor has advised us that in the period 1998 to date, when the vast majority of Army hearing loss cases were finalised, it has paid a total of €17.8 million in such fees. This included €11.4 million for counsel fees. During this period, the Department of Defence directly paid €2 million in other costs associated with the processing of hearing loss claims. These amounts do not include the costs of staff and overheads incurred in processing these claims in the Office of the Chief State Solicitor, the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence, which costs are currently estimated at €23 million.

The management of new and outstanding hearing loss claims was delegated to the State Claims Agency with effect from 1 September 2005. Since that date, my Department has paid a total of €600,000 in plaintiff and agency legal and related costs to the State Claims Agency in respect of hearing loss claims.

Since October last, 145 inquiries have been received by my Department from plaintiffs regarding the fees paid to solicitors in respect of Army deafness cases. Generally these queries refer to the amount of the award or settlement and the costs paid.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

As a matter of course, my Department advises the individual of the amount of the settlement or award, and the date on which payment issued. In addition, the amount paid by the State in respect of plaintiff costs, and the date of such payment, are also advised.

Plaintiffs are advised, on foot of their inquiries, that they are entitled to obtain details of the costs in their cases from their solicitors under the provisions of section 68(6) of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1994. These provisions oblige a legal representative to provide a summary of the legal services provided and the amount of expenses incurred in the provision of these legal services, as well as details of all charges that have been recovered. We also advise that the Law Society of Ireland is the statutory body entrusted with responsibility to investigate complaints against solicitors by any client and that it has procedures in place in this regard.

I wrote to the Law Society of Ireland at the time of the initial queries regarding solicitors' charges in Army hearing loss litigation. In my letter, I asked what plans the society had to deal with any complaints regarding charging by solicitors in these cases. The society clarified that it was the statutory body responsible for dealing with such complaints and that it had procedures in place in this regard. The society has power to order a solicitor to repay any excessive amount charged and is anxious to investigate any complaints made against solicitors.

I wrote again to the Law Society of Ireland recently and expressed my disappointment that a number of complainants have apparently been advised that their complaints cannot be pursued on the grounds that the bill concerned is over five years old, despite the fact that the complainants have only recently become aware of the potential overcharging. I requested the views of the society on the matter and any proposals it has to address this apparent anomaly.

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