The High Court has approved a settlement of €2.4m to a seven- year-old girl who suffered brain damage as a baby.
In March the court found the condition that caused damage to Ava Kiernan, from Duleek in Co Meath, would have been detected if a public health nurse had taken appropriate action during regular check-ups.
Mr Justice Kevin Cross ruled in March there had been a failure on the part of the public health nurse to record the concerns of Ava's mother, to properly record the baby's head circumference and to have the child recalled within weeks for further examination.
Ava suffered from hydrocephalus or water on the brain.
She sued the Health Service Executive, through her mother Ruth Kiernan, for negligence claiming her serious symptoms were caused by the failure to detect the condition before it caused significant damage.
Mr Justice Cross found Ava would not have suffered such significant damage if appropriate action had been taken by the public health nurse.
Today Mr Justice Michael Moriarty was told the case for damages had been settled with an interim payout of €2.4m for the next ten years.
In a statement, Ava's father, Andrew Kiernan, said the settlement marked the beginning of a new life for their daughter.
He said the last seven years had been extremely difficult.
Mr Kiernan said the court had proven that numerous mistakes were made in the care and attention Ava received as a baby.
He said it was disgraceful to think that having suffered at the hands of mistakes, families must then suffer even further stress and heartache in order to uncover the truth and secure the future care needs of their children.
He said that as a result of the lack of candour by the medical profession in Ireland and in this case the HSE and the State Claims Agency, they [his family] had been forced to put their lives and the lives of their children in an extremely perilous position so that they could understand why Ava suffered her injuries and to secure the services and care that she would no doubt need for the rest of her life.
Mr Kiernan said it was unacceptable that the HSE and the State Claims Agency could deny liability for Ava's injuries and could take the family to the brink of the Court of Appeal knowing the evidence before them, the suffering Ava has to endure and the impact on our wider family.
He said the family sincerely hopes that lessons have been learned as a result of Ava's case.
