Press release
Review of the operation of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 Appointment of Independent Chair
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, has appointed Ms Marie O’Shea B.L. as the independent Chair of the review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018.
The 2018 Act was signed into law on 20 December 2018 and commenced on 1 January 2019. Its purpose is to set out the law governing access to termination of pregnancy in Ireland. It permits terminations to be carried out in cases where there is a risk to the life, or of serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman, including in an emergency; where there is a condition present which is likely to lead to the death of the foetus either before or within 28 days of birth; and without restriction up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Under section 7 of the Act, a review of the operation of the Act must be initiated within three years of its commencement, that is, before January 2022. The review clause was included in the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 in order to facilitate monitoring of the impact, operation, and effectiveness of the legislation in practice, as well as of the delivery of services in the area.
Welcoming the appointment of Ms O’Shea as Independent Chair, the Minister said:
“I am pleased to announce that Marie O’Shea will carry out this review. Her significant legal expertise, coupled with her experience in project management and in healthcare sector research, I am confident that she will conduct this important work thoroughly and efficiently.”
The review of the operation of the Act, which comprises two phases, commenced last year. During the first phase of the review, information and evidence on the effectiveness and operation of the Act will be collected from women who use the service, health professionals that provide the service and the public. The first phase commenced last year.
The second phase of the review will be led by the independent Chair who will assess the extent to which the objectives of the Act have been achieved, analysing in that regard the findings of the three strands of information, on the effectiveness and operation of the Act.
Commenting on the review, the Minister said:
“Independent research commissioned to inform the service user and service provider strands will form key elements of the review. The findings of the research, as well as the results of the public consultation, will all be taken into account by the Chair in assessing the extent to which the objectives of the Act have been achieved. The Chair will also draw on the findings of other relevant peer-reviewed research and consult further with stakeholders as necessary.”
Minister Donnelly announced a public consultation on the operation of the Act in December 2021, which will run until 1 April 2022.
Reminding the public about the consultation, the Minister said:
“I would encourage everyone who would like to express their views on the Act to participate in the public consultation. It provides an opportunity for members of the public, organisations, stakeholders, advocacy groups working in the area and all other interested parties to inform the review of the operation of the legislation. Separate in-depth qualitative research will consider the operation of the Act specifically from the service user and service provider perspectives, but service users and service providers are also most welcome to contribute their views through this public consultation process.”
Research to inform the service user strand is being carried out by Dr Catherine Conlon, Associate Professor, Trinity College, who is progressing a large qualitative study to analyse unplanned pregnancy and abortion care. The study, which was commissioned by the HSE’s Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme, will generate an in-depth understanding of the experiences of women who have accessed abortion care services since the commencement of the Act.
Independent research is also being commissioned on service providers’ views on the operation of the legislation. The tender process for the research is in train, with a request for tenders published on the Government eTenders website in December.
Concluding, Minister Donnelly said:
“I am pleased that we are progressing this important review of an Act that was passed following the result of an historic referendum. When the Chair has completed her work in 2022, a final report will be submitted to me with any necessary recommendations. I look forward to hearing people’s views and to the outcome of this review process.”
Ms. Marie O’Shea is a Barrister-at-Law and has been practising at the Bar since 2004. She is also an accredited mediator and project manager. Ms O’Shea has a strong interest in health systems research and has conducted many research projects at the UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems. She authored a report on “The Legal Aspects of the Health Service Executive’s Home Birth Service – A Review of Legislation and Case Law”, and a review of the governance relationships between the State and Section 38 organisations, commissioned by the Voluntary Healthcare Forum.
Ms O’Shea has lectured at the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin on the law on protection of life during pregnancy; parental and children’s rights; consent; negligence and data protection.
Ms O’Shea has a background in project management and healthcare sector projects, including the development of the research strategy at the Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Dublin, incorporating the National Children’s Hospital; research into the role of teaching hospitals in the knowledge-based economy; research into the development of guidelines for good research practice and the management of intellectual property arising in hospitals. She was the strategic development officer on the Health Research Board (HRB) and HSE funded project, “Collective Leadership for Safety Cultures”.
In a voluntary capacity, Ms O’Shea has served as a member of the Research Ethics Committee in the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, UCD, and of the Research Ethics Committees for Global Health and Health Research Management at Trinity College Dublin. She was the chairperson of the communications committee of the Family Lawyers Association of Ireland, and served as a Director and Company Secretary of the charity, Peata, whose objects are to inform and promote the benefits of human interactions with pets and whose main activity is the provision of dog visiting services to people in nursing homes, hospices, colleges and businesses.
Section 7 of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 states that:
“The Minister shall, not later than 3 years after the commencement of this section, carry out a review of the operation of this Act.”
The review clause was included in the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 in order to facilitate monitoring of the impact, operation, and effectiveness of the legislation in practice, as well as of the delivery of services in the area.
The commitment to carry out the review is noted in the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future (2020).
The main purpose of the Act of 2018 is to set out the law governing access to termination of pregnancy in Ireland. It permits termination to be carried out in cases where there is a risk to the life, or of serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman, including in an emergency; where there is a condition present which is likely to lead to the death of the foetus either before or within 28 days of birth; and without restriction up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The independent Chair will:
o service provision in the community setting
o service provision in the acute hospital setting
The Review will be informed by three key streams of information:
For the review to be effective in exploring women’s experience, it is vital to gather the views of service users, to find out whether the legislation provides access to termination of pregnancy services in practice to those who wish to avail of them. In this regard, independent research exploring women’s experiences of termination of pregnancy services and gathering their views on how the system has operated since 1 January 2019 is essential.
The review will draw on the findings of the HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme’s large-scale qualitative research study into women’s experiences of abortion and unplanned pregnancy support services since the implementation of the health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 on 1 January 2019.
Women’s experience of accessing the service may also be captured though the public consultation process (point 3 below).
Information from service providers will provide the second key information strand for the review. In order to assess whether the Act is operating effectively in practice, it is necessary to gather the views of those involved in providing termination of pregnancy services in community and acute settings in Ireland.
For this purpose, independent qualitative research on the operation of the legislation from a service provision perspective is being commissioned through the eTenders Government procurement process. The research will gather input from hospitals, women’s health clinics and GP surgeries, nurses, midwives and pregnancy counsellors, providing termination of pregnancy services, from Medical Colleges, and from the HSE, as well as any other relevant service provider stakeholders who may be identified.
To ensure that all those who wish to do so are given a chance to share their views on the legislation and its operation, members of the public, special interest groups or any other interested parties are invited to submit their views for consideration in the Review.
A public consultation process is being undertaken at www.gov.ie/topreview to provide an opportunity for all those who wish to do so to share their views on the legislation and its operation. Responses received will be analysed and the views and recommendations therein will be taken into account by the Chair in producing the final Review report.
The Chair may as necessary:
The Chair will collate the findings of the three strands of the review and produce a final report, providing conclusions and any necessary recommendations.
A final report on the findings of the independent review will be submitted to the Minister for Health for consideration.
The terms of reference set out above are subject to amendment following discussions with Chair.