John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I do not believe anybody in this House questions the work Console does. It is a given that it does fantastic work and hopefully will continue to do so.

However, the problem lies with governance. It is our job, as legislators, to tackle any such problem with governance in order to ensure it does not happen again. If the Minister of State does not have the direct answers to the questions I posed, she should go back to the HSE with the following questions and seek clarification.

I will repeat the questions. Why did the HSE sit on the report for six months when the credit cards were alive and buying Rugby World Cup tickets and drawing down payment? That should not have been allowed to happen. How much was Console allocated in 2016? Why did the HSE allow Console to continue when the initial concerns were raised in 2009? If it was not for the good work by RTE and The Irish Timesin uncovering this, it would have continued for a number of years more.

Crucially, why was action not taken sooner? Concerns were raised, but action was not taken. For me that does not add up. We all accept the good work that has been done and that should continue to be done. However, when problems of governance arise and questions are not answered properly, the entire charity sector suffers. It is our job to put that right and ensure it does not happen again.

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