Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Durkan. I will need to come back to him if I am to give him a comprehensive answer. If it is all right, I will come back to him in writing on that question.

The tendering process will begin in November. I met with the Child Law Project in March and set out our position. We have brought in legislation on assisted decision-making, which also involves a reporting element. At some stage in the future, we may tender for reporting on child law and assisted decision-making together. Even though it does amazing work, we cannot just award the Child Law Project the contract in the interim. There has to be a tendering process. That is why there is a shorter one-year process rather than the usual three-year process. That will bring us to a point at which we may amalgamate the two. It was that change in approach that led to delays. I am not happy about it. There has been entirely justified criticism of it. However, I assure the Deputy that the funding is in place and that the tendering process will open in November. It is a truncated process and we will see reporting in January of next year.

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