Ms Rachel Downes:

In the early years, for example, we would have found that a high number of cases were being accepted. Over 2,500 applications were made in the first three months of Caranua's existence. That has been a consistent theme throughout so we have had to work with that. There were low staff numbers and we had to build staff and ensure that they were fully trained in dealing with and working for survivors. There were, for example, long delays. At one stage, there was an eight to nine-month delay between somebody making an application and receiving a service from Caranua. That is something we have worked determinedly to improve over the past couple of years and I am happy to say that there has been no delay in services over the past 18 months to two years.