Costings pledge to Army deafness claimants

The Government said today it would issue Army deafness claimants alleging overcharging by solicitors with detailed costings of their cases, it said today.

Some 133 serving and former soldiers who sued the state for loss of hearing have complained about being charged for legal costs that were already covered by the Department of Defence.

Defence Minister Willie O’Dea said the majority of claimants alleging they have been double-charged were not provided with a bill by their legal teams.

He vowed today to retrieve files from the Chief State Solicitor’s office and forward the detailed costings of the individual cases to the solicitors involved.

Mr O’Dea described as unjustifiable and grossly unfair a rule invoked by the Law Society – which has the power to make solicitors repay excess charges – not to probe cases settled more than five years.

Of the 133 complaints received at the Department of Defence, some 99 of the cases were dealt with outside the time limitation set by the Law Society.

The Minister is to meet Law Society Director General Ken Murphy next week to insist that the complaints are properly dealt with regardless of the deadline.

“I believe there is absolutely no justification for this rule and it places claimants in a grossly unfair disadvantage especially as the majority of inquiries I have received are outside the Law Society deadline,” he said.

“I have written to Mr Ken Murphy to express my disappointment and have advised him that where a plaintiff advises my department that their solicitor is not in a position to provide them with a bill of costs in their case, the Department will try to facilitate this by requesting a copy from the Chief State Solicitor’s Office which should have this information on file. We would then forward it to the solicitor and advise the plaintiff accordingly,” he said.

Mr O’Dea said there was evidence that at least one solicitor had refunded money to a client on foot of information provided by the Department of Defence.

Fine Gael Defence spokesman Billy Timmins TD had earlier called on Mr O’Dea to ensure all overcharging allegations were investigated fully.

“However, I remain very concerned that the Law Society, which has the power to order a solicitor to repay clients where overcharging is uncovered, may refuse to examine complaints because more than five years has passed in many of these cases,” he said.

“As with the recent cases of overcharging involving former residents of residential institutions making claims at the Redress Board, any case of overcharging in respect of army deafness claims must be investigated fully.

“Minister O’Dea must report on the contact which he has had with the Law Society on this issue, and the responses that he has so far received.

“This week, at the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights, the Minister for Defence informed me that the plaintiff’s legal costs, arising from army deafness claims, would amount to €95m. These are huge legal costs, and any incidence of overcharging should be publicly uncovered,” he said.

A total of 16,760 claims had been lodged by current and former members of the Defence Forces for loss of hearing allegedly caused during military service.

A total of 15,605 claims had been disposed of, mainly through settlement, leaving 1,155 outstanding at that point.

It is anticipated that the final costs of Army hearing loss litigation including legal costs, will be in the region of €300m.