Dr. Sara O'Byrne:

What struck me into responding to the Bill was the lack of integration of research with policy. We know so much about brain development in uteroand in early life that is absent from this Bill in terms of an understanding of the impact. That is important to state. For example, traumatic memories pre-verbally are encoded and stored differently from verbal memories. We need to know that and all these things in terms of design of treatments, interventions and knowing the likely impact. We may not see psychological needs in a clear way but we may see many physical symptoms. We may see people who really struggle with regulation of their sensory systems. That is a clear impact. It is an example of where the research needs to come in to inform policy and practice. That is what we hope to contribute.