Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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663. To ask the Minister for Health the number of applications that were received by his Department from bidders in response to the e-Tender to carry out the research into the views of abortion providers prior to the eventual award being made. [24254/22]

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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664. To ask the Minister for Health the amount in remunerations that will be paid to the recently announced awardee (details supplied) of the eTender to carry out research into the views of abortion providers. [24255/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 663 and 664 together.

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. A total of five responses were received and evaluated. 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. A budget of up to approximately €60,000 is available for Manchester Metropolitan University to carry out this research. 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.