NEARLY €11m has been paid out in compensation and legal costs to members of the Defence Forces injured or wounded in the course of duty since 2006.

Almost three-quarters of the claims relate to "army deafness", where soldiers were exposed to gunfire without ear protection. Some of the largest payouts, however, were made on foot of allegations of bullying and what the Department of Defence terms "matters arising out of interpersonal contact".

In all, five settlements have been made with soldiers who sued on the basis that they were bullied or discriminated against. Payments totalling €268,500 were made as a result of the cases.

Bullying in the Defence Forces has been a sore point since research by former army officer Tom Clonan found that it was rampant. Of 60 female personnel interviewed for Clonan's doctoral thesis, 59 said they had suffered some form of harassment and 12 said they'd been the subject of improper sexual advances or a sexual assault.

More routine accidents like slips, trips and falls, along with road traffic accidents, accounted for the bulk of the 352 claims made since the beginning of 2006.

Already this year, the Department of Defence has been forced to pay out €2.02m in compensation and €1.7m in costs.

Legal fees in the cases appear to be particularly high, with around €800 in costs for barristers and solicitors paid out for every €1,000 spent on compensation.

The largest single area of compensation this year related to road traffic accidents. Seven troops shared nearly €550,000 as a result of injuries sustained in vehicle crashes.

The soldier's representative body, PDForra, has repeatedly called for roll cages to be installed in all vehicles, believing this could help reduce injuries.

Three members of the Defence Forces suffered injuries after mishaps with weapons, explosives or ammunition in 2008, the department said. They were paid €105,000 between them. Another soldier got €38,000 after being hit by a "falling object".

The curse of "army deafness" continues to plague the Defence Forces a decade after the first claims began to flood in. A total of 33 settlements were made this year but the average compensation paid out has been reduced substantially to just €7,100.

At least 138 cases are still on hand, the figures reveal, with legal costs relating to army deafness reaching around €1.2m in the first seven months of the year.

Other areas in which compensation has been paid out include exposure to or contact with harmful substances, which has cost the department €105,000 this year. Illness and food poisoning have also been responsible for two claims in the past three years, at a total cost of €78,000.

"It is an issue that needs to be explained in terms of why the legal costs are quite high," said Gerry Rooney of PDForra. "The Defence Forces is no different to any large organisation and there will always be compensation claims arising out of road accidents or bullying or whatever it might be."

The Department of Defence said: "The costs shown in each category within each year do not necessarily relate to the cases settled in that year. This is because there is usually a time lag between a case being settled and the associated costs being agreed between the parties and paid out.

"As a large number of the cases are settled out of court, the settlements reached would not be in the public domain. It has therefore been decided that a more detailed breakdown of the information should not be released on the grounds that it might be possible to identify individual claimants if more detailed descriptions of incidents is released."

Soldiers weren't the only defence employees claiming damages, the Sunday Tribune has learned. Civil servants, civilian employees and members of the public made claims costing over €1.8 million in the past three years.