Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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226. To ask the Minister for Health the date in which he will announce the identity of the successful bidder of the tender to complete research into the views of service users and service providers as part of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Act) review. [22428/22]

Stephen 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.

The Review is being led by an independent Chair and comprises of 2 main phases. As part of the first phase of the Review, information and evidence on the operation of the Act will be collected. There are 3 elements within the first phase of the Review; service user research, service provider research and public consultation.

The second phase of the Review is being led by an independent Chair who will assess the extent to which the objectives of the 2018 Act have been achieved, analysing in that regard the findings of the three strands of information. The Minister for Health appointed Ms Marie O’Shea B.L. as the independent Chair of the Review.

A request for tender to carry out the research into the views of service providers was published on eTenders. The evaluation process has now concluded, and I am pleased to announce that the contract for this important research has been awarded to Manchester Metropolitan University. In line with the normal procurement process, my Department has been engaging with Manchester Metropolitan University to complete the necessary contractual arrangements. The objective of this research is to capture the views and experiences of service providers and will be a key input to the Review of the operation of the 2018 Act.

Separately, the HSE's Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme commissioned research to understand people’s experiences of using abortion care services and unplanned pregnancy supports. This research is being led by Dr Catherine Conlon of the School of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin. This work is ongoing and will also be a key input of the Review of the operation of the 2018 Act.