John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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137. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the stage the report on the impact of Government reforms to the one-parent family payment is at; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6432/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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During the debate on the Social Welfare (SW) Bill 2016, I agreed that my Department would commission an independent report on the OFP reforms to examine the financial and social effects of the amendments to the scheme made since 1 January 2012, taking into account the poverty rates and welfare dependency of those impacted by the reforms. This is now in legislation. I am committed to producing the report as quickly as possible, and no later than August 2017 so that it can inform Budget 2018 discussions.

Under procurement rules it is not yet possible to provide further information on the nature of the report. However, I can confirm that my Department has already liaised with the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) on the most efficient way forward. On their advice an outline of the Request for Tender (RFT) was issued in December 2016 to potential providers seeking expressions of interest by 11^thJanuary 2017. The responses received confirmed that the RFT can issue under an existing OGP framework which is the most efficient way of procuring this evaluation.

The drafting of the RFT is well underway within my Department. It is critical that the RFT fully reflects the nature and scope of the report required and so it is important to dedicate the necessary time and effort to this step. This is to ensure that the resultant tenders are of a high quality and that the end result is an effective and comprehensive evaluation. My Departmental officials met with officials the OGP on 6^thFebruary 2017 to discuss further the RFT and the procurement process. Once the RFT is finalised it will be issued by the OGP to relevant providers under their framework for response.

The timeframe for this report is ambitious but my Department is making every effort to progress this quickly taking account of the procurement rules.