David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 299: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if the national children's research dissemination unit has been established; if so, the work of the unit to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30734/05]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The national children's strategy, Our Children — Their Lives, was published in the year 2000. The second goal of the national children's strategy is concerned with strengthening research, evaluation and information on children's lives. The national children's office, or NCO, oversees important elements of the research programme to be developed under this goal. One of the commitments contained in the strategy is the establishment of the national children's research dissemination unit. The dissemination unit has not yet been established. However, there have been several important developments in the area of children's research in which the NCO has been taking a lead role.

Developments to date include the establishment of the national children's strategy research scholarship scheme in 2001 to develop research capacity regarding children and supporting research directly related to the national children's strategy. To date 17 scholarships have been awarded. In 2004, the national children's strategy research scholarship scheme was extended to include research placement awards. This gives students the opportunity to work with the research division at the national children's office. To date five research placements have been awarded. Other developments include the launch of the national children's office research programme in 2004. Under this programme, a total of ten research projects have been funded. These research studies are due for completion over the course of 2005 and their findings will be widely disseminated. Researchers in the NCO have developed a national set of child well-being indicators in consultation with a number of key stakeholders, including policy-makers, researchers, service providers, parents and children themselves.

The process of developing this indicator set included four major components, which are a background review of indicator sets in use elsewhere and the compilation of an inventory of key indicators, domains and indicator selection criteria; a feasibility study of the availability of national statistics to construct the indicators identified in the previous step; a study on children's understandings of well-being; and a research-based consensus process known as the Delphi technique, through which the final set of indicators were identified and agreed with a panel of experts. Agreement has been reached in respect of 42 key indicators that will be used initially. This report and related documents were published in June 2005. Work has commenced on the preparation of the state of the nation's children report based on these indicators. It is anticipated that the first report will be published early in 2006. A national longitudinal study of children in Ireland has been commissioned. This study has been put out to tender using a negotiated procedure. Following a period of clarification and negotiation, the evaluation took place on 2 June 2005 and a preferred bidder has been identified. It is hoped to award the contract for this study by the end of 2005.