The Health Service Executive (HSE) has applied to the High Court for an order not to resuscitate a terminally ill 8-month-old baby girl. The girl's mother says her daughter is 'a gift from God'.
The court heard the baby girl has a genetic disorder known as mitochondrial depletion syndrome.
There is no known treatment and no child in Ireland has ever survived it.
Counsel for the HSE, Timothy O'Leary SC said the girl has epileptic seizures, bilateral deafness, was visually impaired and had unsafe swallowing and poor respiration.
The HSE is looking for an order allowing doctors not to resuscitate or ventilate her.
However the child's mother says her daughter is a 'miracle' and 'a gift from God'.
She says she will not let her baby suffer, but she wants the right to decide when her life must end.
High Court President Nicholas Kearns has put the case back until next month.
He has ordered that an independent medical review be carried out before he decides whether to grant the order.
