State faces huge Dept of Defence compensation bill

The State is expected by pay a bill of €300m in claims from soldiers and civilians employed by the Department of Defence.

Today's Irish Independent reports that the Army has paid out more than €23m in compensation claims.

Deafness payouts are set to top €265m.

Since January, €26m has been paid in 12 separate non-deafness claims. One soldier received more than €1m as a result of injuries received during an explosion.

14,400 claims have so far been settled with a further 2,200 outstanding.