The High Court has ordered the Minister for Defence, Ireland and the Attorney General to discover records about chemicals used at Casement Aerodrome in a personal injury claim brought by former Air Corps aircraft mechanic Gavin Tobin.
Mr Justice McDermott made the order on 7 October 2016 after finding that the records sought were relevant and necessary to the fair disposal of the claim. The application concerned discovery, not a trial of the allegations: the defendants continue to contest liability, and the court made no finding that exposure caused injury or that any party was negligent.
Mr Tobin alleges that he was exposed to dangerous chemicals and organic solvents during his Air Corps service from 1989 to 1999, and that the exposure caused personal injuries. He claims failures including inadequate training, protective equipment and ventilation. The defendants denied admitting that he was exposed to dangerous chemicals and put him on proof of exposure, breach of duty and resulting injury.
The dispute before the court concerned two categories of records: safety data sheets for chemicals used at the aerodrome, and documents identifying chemicals purchased or used, including quantities and purchase dates. The defendants said they could provide safety sheets for the Engine Repair Flight workshop, but argued that a broader search would be burdensome. An affidavit estimated that staff would need about 220 hours to review and categorise records, some of which were stored manually or electronically and could be difficult to locate.
The judge rejected limiting the search to that workshop. He said the claim was not confined to one area of the aerodrome and that records could assist in identifying chemicals likely to have been used during Mr Tobin’s work. The court accepted that some records might have been lost, saying that could be addressed in the defendants’ discovery affidavit. The order covers the two disputed categories despite the work involved.
The judgment also addressed other discovery categories. The parties had agreed most of them. The court ordered discovery concerning alleged “tubbing” initiation incidents involving exposure to chemicals, and extended certain chemical-safety environmental records beyond the workshop to specified aerodrome locations, excluding the carpentry shop. Records about chemical disposal were narrowed to the tasks Mr Tobin described involving chemical vats and baths. A broader request for standard operating procedures was considered too wide and not relevant as framed.