Written answers

Tuesday, 8 February 2022

Department of Health

Legislative Reviews

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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708. To ask the Minister for Health the reason he and his Department in all public utterances and statements refer to the position of chair, of the three-year review of the abortion law, as the independent chair given that no other Government appointed chairpersonships are continually referred to in the same way. [6285/22]

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 was signed into law on 20 December 2018 and commenced on 1 January 2019. Under section 7 of the Act, a review of the operation of the Act must be initiated within three years of the commencement of the Act, i.e., before January 2022.

As I stated during my appearance before the Joint Committee on Health on 8 December, it was my intention to appoint an independent Chair to lead the second phase of the review of the operation of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018.

As the costs involved in contracting an independent Chair to conduct the review were estimated as exceeding €25,000, the advice I received was that the Department was obliged under procurement rules to tender for the appointment.

Given the expertise required for the position, a small number of candidates, identified as having suitable experience, were contacted and invited to tender for the role of independent Chair.

I look forward to receiving the Chair's final report, incorporating her conclusions and any recommendations, in due course.

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