Ms Anne O'Connor:

The increase was the cost of the helpline. It was not a general increase to Console's funding. It was to specifically provide a helpline. It was locked into Console agreeing to greater scrutiny and an external review of its services. Again, I apologise, but I was not around at that time. It was a matter of timing. It was an urgent situation and there was not another provider. Again, I cannot comment on the detail because I was not involved in it. However, as I understand it, at that time it was urgent and a body had to take on the helpline. Console was the provider already providing a helpline in that space. It had the skills and experience to do it. It is important to state that there have not been concerns about the service. Our priority always has been to support the service users. There was not a concern about Console's capacity to provide the service it was providing.