Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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479. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will consider providing funding for the Childcare Law Reporting Project when it concludes in 2017. [32635/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The Child Care Law Reporting Project (CCLRP) is an independent project authorised under Section 29 of the Child Care Act 1991 (as amended by the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2007), and in accordance with Regulations made under that Section, to report on child care proceedings. This five-year project is supported in its work by my Department, the One Foundation and Atlantic Philanthropies.

The original aims and objectives of the project were to:

- Provide information to the public on child care proceedings in the courts;

- Conduct research on these proceedings in order to promote debate and inform policy-makers;

- Make recommendations to address any short-comings in the child care system identified by the research;

- Assist in the implementation of these recommendations; and

- Promote confidence in the child care system.

The project published 12 volumes of case reports between 2013 and 2015. These have highlighted variations in child care applications and outcomes, including by region, ethnicity and by family status. It has also published two interim reports followed by a final report in November 2015.

The CCLRP has now moved to a new phase of work, focusing on more complex and protracted cases. Overseen by NUIG, in conjunction with my Department, Tusla and Atlantic Philanthropies, this new strand aims to establish:

- Factors associated with cases that are prolonged and expensive in terms of resources, including: expert reports and witnesses; engagement with the family prior to the making of the application; the preparation of the cases; the extent to which the conditions for the reunification of the family form part of the application;

- The circumstances in which GALs are appointed by the court and the circumstances in which they are granted legal representation;

- What assessments are required during applications, what the time-scale is for such assessments, who carries them out, the extent to which they are disputed and by whom, and the impact of the on-going assessments on the conduct of proceeding;

- Variations in the evidential requirements for the making of the order requested;

- The impact of various legal and procedural provisions on the conduct of the proceedings, and the need, if any, for their revision.

In keeping with current reporting procedures, all cases reported upon will be anonymised. It is anticipated that a first draft of the research findings will be available next year. Department of Children and Youth Affairs funding for the project will continue into 2017 when the project, as agreed, will conclude.