Mr. Jim Gibson:

The university of choice would not be solely academic. The lifecourse institute in NUI Galway is proactive in research and members of its staff would have come from practice as well. It is highly recognised for good research into practice.

The purpose of the independent evaluation would be to tell us that this is fit for purpose and it is working in a way that it is able to receive conversations and to be astute in how it manages that information and when it passes on that information. It is about being fit for purpose. It is about its ethos. It has a shared ethos because it is not only Scouting Ireland that has an interest in this. Government has an interest in it. Tusla has an interest in it. Adult counselling services have an interest in it as well. An Garda Síochána may as well.

Where we have a difference of opinion about who should be doing it, I, as the chief operations officer, COO, introduced the concept of having someone independently evaluate the current helpline and make recommendations on how to adjust that if required on the basis of ensuring that a citizen of this country is dealt with in a right and proper manner if he or she had an alleged historical abusive experience in Scouting Ireland.