Gabrielle McFadden (Fine Gael)
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In my home town of Athlone, a Console centre was opened this year. The community in the midlands rallied and Console was very quickly inundated with people's generosity. Vast numbers of people in the midlands came on board; tradespeople and business people gave of their time, trade and money. Business people in the town and the wider area provided fixtures, fittings and furniture for the centre. At the time Paul Kelly said the community had really taken ownership of this project and thanks to their incredible efforts they were able to offer hope and help to people in the midlands who were struggling with mental health issues or suicide. The centre even included a Donal room for teenagers. Donal Walsh is a young boy who died from cancer and who used the last months of his life to talk to people about the preciousness of life and appeal to young people not to take their own lives. His family helped to fund the Donal room in the Athlone centre. It was a significant achievement for them to do that in memory of their son.

When people are affected by the suicide of a loved one, they feel abandoned. They have many unanswered questions. For many, counselling is a lifeline. It offers a safe haven to try to make sense of life's rupture, a place to learn to trust again and perhaps a place of hope. The CEO of Console took that away. The goodwill of people was abused. He broke the trust of some of the most vulnerable people in Ireland. Some of the therapists who work in the centres have not been paid in more than two months but, because they recognise the supreme importance of the work they do, they have continued to work with their clients so as not to abandon them again or break their trust again, and in order not to reawaken the trauma they have been through.

We must ask why this happened. The Console catastrophe points to a much deeper problem in the Government and in society. We recognise a problem such as suicide when it is all too late, only to scatter money at a plethora of organisations that have already sprung up to stem the tide, which they do as best they can. The lack of vision, absence of strategic planning and unregulated spending breeds fly-by-night CEOs similar to what we have encountered in Console.

We need to pick up the pieces from that catastrophe. We have a responsibilities to protect our most vulnerable, not despite adversity, but because of it. I urge the Minister of State to keep the counselling centres around the country, and particularly in Athlone, open and to ensure continued funding of these vital services.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising what is a very sad issue. As she said, services such as Console and many others that deal with suicide, bereavement or trauma are important to those who attend the services and those who work for them. When people avail of such services it is often at a very difficult time, or even the lowest point, in their lives, and it is traumatic for something like this to happen.

Funding for suicide prevention has increased significantly in recent years, from €3.7 million in 2010 to €11.5 million in 2016, including an additional €2.75 million which was provided in 2015 for extra resource officers for suicide prevention countrywide. The National Office for Suicide Prevention funds more than 40 individual organisations, including Console, and co-ordinates suicide prevention initiatives around the country. It also carries out research and training in this area. As Senator McFadden outlined, Console provides counselling, therapy and support to people who have been bereaved by suicide. It also operates a national free 24-7 helpline and provides counselling and therapy at Console centres or outreach locations in several centres countrywide, of which Athlone is one location. In addition, Console provides child psychotherapy services for children and adolescents in suicidal crisis or who have been bereaved by suicide, collaborating closely with the HSE child and adolescent mental health services. All of Console's services are delivered by fully qualified and accredited counsellors, psychotherapists or psychologists who operate to strict procedural and ethical guidelines and under strict clinical supervision. Its counsellors and therapists are experienced in addressing trauma, loss, crisis intervention and complicated grief.

The HSE audit into Console was initiated in April 2015 by the National Office for Suicide Prevention following an examination of the 2013 returns from Console to the HSE, which were received in late 2014. The HSE has confirmed that concerns arose in a number of areas, including the corporate governance and financial management of the agency.It should be noted that the HSE has informed the Department of Health that it has not uncovered any issues with the standard of the services funded through the executive. As the Senator has pointed out, much of the work that went on in her office is completely separate to the issues that have arisen. The audit process has been concluded and an audit report has been sent to the HSE's mental health division. The Minister and I were briefed by the latter on 4 July 2016 in respect of the HSE's audit of Console. At this meeting, we both emphasised that the continuation of services was an overriding priority. We were informed that An Garda Síochána had been provided with a copy of the audit report and that the Committee of Public Accounts will also be provided with a copy ahead of its meeting on 15 July. The Minister updated the Cabinet on these developments on 5 July.

On 7 July, a series of meetings involving the HSE, the Department of Health, ministerial advisers, the charities regulator, service providers and the interim CEO of Console, David Hall, took place. The purpose of the meetings was to clarify the current position with regard to Console and to consider how arrangements could be put in place to ensure the seamless continuation of the three services funded by the HSE and currently provided by Console, namely, the 24/7 suicide helpline, which is possibly the most critical, the suicide bereavement liaison service, and the suicide bereavement counselling service. The Minister and I met Console's interim CEO on 8 July and, since then, a lot of work has been done to ensure that the services provided by Console are continued. HSE management has assured the Department of Health that its first priority will be to ensure continuity of the various services provided by Console, having equal regard to the financial controls and the guidelines around the funding of agencies by the HSE.

Gabrielle McFadden (Fine Gael)
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What is really important here is the phrase "seamless continuation of the three services", which the Minister of State used. I welcome this because that continuation needs to be seamless. What if these centres do not continue as they are at present? What will happen to them, who will own them and what will happen in the context of the work that has been done? People who gave of their time, money and expertise not be discouraged from doing so because of the greed of people such as the former CEO of Console? When the Minister of State examines this matter, I urge her to look at these centres and the amount of money, time and general goodwill that has been invested in them and ensure that they are not just shut down. I also urge her to look at the number of different groups that are looking after the same area. We need a more consolidated approach to this matter. It should not be a case of people just setting up different charities throughout the country, there is a need for the Government to adopt a national holistic approach.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Senator will understand that there are certain elements of this that I cannot discuss at present but I hope that we will have a resolution and that the details will become more public in the coming days and weeks. The priority has always been - and should continue to be until we reach the end of this process - ensuring that the services remain in place whether that be through a different organisation or the consolidation of some of them into other areas. It is also extremely important that there is continuous work with those who have provided the counselling service within Console and that they do not feel abandoned. A great deal of work has gone into ensuring that they are engaged with and that they know what is happening throughout this process.

Most importantly, in the aftermath of this saga we must ensure that the charities sector is properly regulated. During the debate in the Dáil last evening, I very much welcomed the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality's move to commence section 4 of the Act. I welcome the additional funding that will allow these acts to take place with additional staff and funding. In particular, we need to look at section 38 and 39 agencies so a review is under way of the 40 charities that are currently funded through section 38. Over 2,000 charities are funded under section 39, so there also needs to be a review in this regard. I thank the Senator for raising the issue.