Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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611. To ask the Minister for Health the names of the institutes and of the academic researchers in a university (details supplied) that recently received the tender to conduct research into the views of abortion providers as part of the review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25896/22]

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 in December 2021. 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. Following this procurement process the contract for this important research was awarded to Manchester Metropolitan University.

The project will be led by Dr Deirdre Duffy and supported by a team of researchers (from Manchester Metropolitan University and Maynooth University) as well as special advisors with substantial experience and knowledge of the context and organisation of abortion services in Ireland under the Health (Regulation of Termination) Act 2018.