I am sure the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, will agree with me that over the past number of weeks the whole country has been saddened and shocked at the continuous stream of revelations emerging from the national suicide charity, Console, and how it was being run by its former CEO.

The interim CEO, Mr. David Hall, has described what was going on as a tactical and considered web of deceit and a prolonged abuse of public trust and public moneys. It is indeed a betrayal of the trust of those who volunteered their time to raise money for Console, those who donated to it and the staff who provided essential services. Most of all it is a betrayal of the trust of those who depend on the vital services that Console has been providing. The real risk is that people will get tired of the ongoing stream of revelations from the charitable sector, with an inevitable impact on donations. That would be the real tragedy.

In the case of Console, as I understand it, the staff are owed €86,000. This morning's Irish Examiner reports David Hall as saying: "The HSE haven't met with me in the two weeks since this happened. A meeting has been promised with Ministers Harris and McEntee but nothing happened, no meeting, no solutions, nothing." It is now two weeks after the RTE Investigates programme on Console. I understand that, following Mr. Hall essentially putting a bomb under the HSE and the Department last night, a meeting has taken place this morning with the chief financial officer of the HSE, Department of Health officials, ministerial advisers and the charities regulator. He has put a proposal to protect the services that Console is providing.

Let us remember that this is all about a helpline for people who are going through a very difficult time in their lives and may have suicidal tendencies. It is about providing counselling services for those who have been bereaved when a loved one has taken their own life through suicide. It is also about protecting outreach supports. Last year alone, over 5,500 individual counselling sessions were provided by staff members of Console.

Will the Minister give a commitment that the essential services Console has been providing, and continues to provide under extraordinarily difficult circumstances, will be protected and will continue to be provided? Can the Minister give an assurance that the 12 full-time staff and 60 part-time staff who are collectively owed €86,000 will also be protected?

I want to know where this goes from here. There has been a lack of political leadership on this issue. Not a single Government Minister has picked up the phone to ring David Hall or speak to Console's staff in the past two weeks since these astounding revelations were aired by RTE. That is despite the fact that the Minister would have had these revelations for a number of months in the form of the HSE audit report.

I share Deputy Michael McGrath's concern that there would be an impact on many people who are in a vulnerable position. Our primary objective now must be to protect the valuable services which have been delivered with great commitment by people in Console. This has come as a huge shock to those working within the sector as well as those supporting it.

The way this matter came to light was through enhanced governance oversight by the HSE leading to an audit by the HSE of what was going on within Console. The system has been working. We can all say it might have worked faster and can all point to reforms we would like to see concerning the charities regulator. Those points are validly made.

I can assure the Deputy, however, that there has been a meeting with Console. The primary motivation behind that meeting is to protect services, as the Deputy said, to ensure that Console's workers are treated properly and that the services continue to be delivered.

I can assure the Deputy that the Minister for Justice and Equality has signed the order to equip the Charities Regulatory Authority with the necessary investigative powers under Part 4 of Charities Act 2009 and the staffing to pursue that. It is up to this House to take up this issue. I know the Committee of Public Accounts is assessing it. It has been suggested that we need to further amend some of the legislation in this sphere. The Government is open to making such changes if that proves possible and necessary. This is being dealt with as a priority. Real action is being taken to make sure services are protected and governance and oversight are tightened in all these areas. The charities and voluntary sector is an enormously important part of service delivery. No Government or public body can match the reach that can be achieved by the committed and dedicated members of the community who have been involved in so many areas. We have to provide a regulatory framework in which the public can have confidence. We are determined to do so.

I welcome the Minister's commitment to protecting services. The single most important issue here is the need for support to be provided to those who are feeling suicidal and those who have been bereaved through the suicide of a family member. They need to have someone they can call. The staff of Console have continued to maintain such services in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. We need to know whether there is a future for a reformed Console, or whether the services currently provided by Console will be subsumed into another organisation or charity involved in the provision of mental health services. I have not been impressed by the lack of direct political involvement in dealing with this issue. Even though it has probably been the single biggest domestic news story of recent weeks, not a single Minister with direct line responsibility has taken the initiative to talk to the staff of Console or to the interim chief executive officer, who has had to go to incredible lengths to deal with the issues flowing from the revelations about how this organisation is being run. Does Console have a future? Is the Government giving a guarantee that the services on which people rely will be continued and protected? If so, in what form will they be provided? Given the sensitive and personal nature of the services involved here, which can and do save lives, there can be no gap in their provision. We all need to remember that 5,500 individual counselling sessions were provided last year. That is what we are seeking to protect here, despite the appalling betrayal of trust that was perpetrated by those involved in running Console.

I assure the Deputy that the relevant Ministers have been directly involved in these meetings and are not dealing with this matter on a hands-off basis. Their priority is to ensure the continued delivery of these services. There is no Member of this House who has not been touched by some family that has suffered as a result of suicide, which has a dramatic impact on everyone around it. The support services provided by organisations like Console are absolutely central in this respect. The Deputy asked whether these services will be protected within Console or within some other organisation. I cannot give him an authoritative answer to that question, which is the subject of discussion. The core commitment and objective is to do as the Deputy has asked by making sure services are protected, continuing to support those who depend on such services and supporting the workers in this organisation, who have been very dedicated and for whom this has come as a total surprise. That is the objective for the Government, as it is for Deputy McGrath.