Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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What I was trying to get at was whether additional skills would be required. With the area of data protection, it is probably every day of the week. New skills probably need to be acquired every morning.

I want to touch briefly on the issue of mediation. I am a big fan of mediation. When it works, it works really well. Head 8 refers to the benefits, which are extensive, and head 11 refers to staff and resources. If it were a requirement in the morning to deliver on the resource capacity, what additional resources would be required?

In the heads it is stated that administrative tasks can be undertaken by existing personnel or what is referred to as external delivery partners, and in head 11 it is stated the organisation may be in a position to appoint external mediators. I understand the concept of external mediators in the event that an organisation is overwhelmed and it is necessary to buy in additional resources. However, there is a very clear benefit to having in-house mediators because they will build up that experience. There is no guarantee when dealing with an outside company about what you will get. Some mediators work in the area of relationships and they are not necessarily going to be the same people who could mediate a case like the one the witnesses are talking about, notwithstanding the fact they may have great skills. There may not be the option, if outsourcing, to designate those skills specifically. My concern is around the creation and retention of an organisational memory with regard to mediation. It is a long time since I was involved in any mediation but I know the more you do, the better you get, the more you build up your knowledge and the better your outcomes. The witnesses know themselves, when the mediation is finished, and while I know it is confidential, if people chat about it in any way, shape or form, they are not going to find that somebody else was perceived to have done better.

In terms of the resources that exist and that are needed and the reference to potentially outsourcing mediation or buying in additional resources, is that more in case of an emergency or would it be the intention that they would be the mainstay of the mediation? I would have a difficulty with the second situation, but only from the reason of building up organisational knowledge. Politically speaking, the witnesses probably know I would be opposed to outsourcing in any event, but that is not the reason. It is to do with the depth and the capacity to build up that organisational knowledge.