John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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345. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the status of the lone parent report committed to in the Social Welfare Bill 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11992/17]

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.

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 11th January 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.

My Department is in the process of finalising the RFT and has been in discussions with the Office of Government Procurement to discuss further the RFT in relation to its design and composition and the procurement process. Once the RFT is finalised it will be issued by the OGP to relevant providers under their framework for response.

I expect that the RFT will be issued in the very near future. 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 Department is working to the timeframe of having the report completed within 9 months of the passing of the Social Welfare Act 2016. This is to ensure that it can inform Budget 2018 discussions.