Dr. Rosalyn Tamming:

One thing related to that was that we developed an advice paper on intermediaries, who are people who work between someone who has a communication difficulty and the court. As a result of that, there was a pilot scheme set up, and training. The first cohort will be graduating, probably by May or June, down in Limerick. These are people who will be trained to work as intermediaries, and they will be placed in courts to work not just people with autism - and I am sure they will make some of the cohort - but people with communications difficulties who find it difficult to interact with the courts, whether they are witnesses or someone who has been convicted. That is a good development, and it arose from that.

A lot of the document was just advice about simple things, like how you should interact with somebody - that they are in a very unfamiliar environment, and more time should be given, and that there should be an understanding that they might not be taking all the information in. All of those communication things and softer skills take a lot of time to develop and bed in. There is probably a need for training to go along with the guidance. The guidance is one thing; you can read it and say that it makes sense, but to actually apply it in your work is a little bit more difficult. It is not something we have gone back to evaluate, but maybe it is something we should have a look at and see if people found the guidelines helpful, and what we can do to improve them for a version two.