High Court appoints liquidator to suicide charity

The High Court has appointed a provisional liquidator to the charity Console after hearing it is €294,000 in debt and unable to ensure maintenance of its service to people affected by suicide.

Its services are being taken over by the Pieta House charity, which works in the same area, and there will be an almost seamless transition with a phone counselling service to be out for no more than an hour, the court heard. Clients of the service can continue with Pieta House or opt out.

Mr Justice Paul Gilligan also approved an order sought by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), and agreed with the HSE, that corporate files of Console – and not personal data of clients – would be handed over to the ODCE for a possible criminal investigation into the affairs of Console.

Earlier yesterday, the judge appointed Tom Murray of Friel Stafford as provisional liquidator after hearing an agreement was being worked out between Console’s main funder, the HSE, and Pieta House to take over the services.

Freezing orders have been obtained over the assets of three of Console's directors, including its founder Paul Kelly and his wife Patricia.

The court heard the other directors were not even aware they were directors, never attended board meetings and had no information about what went on at the charity.

Rossa Fanning BL, for the HSE, said the agreement between the HSE and Pieta House covered the next 10 days and in that time they would work out a long-term agreement.

Commercially sensitive

Details of the agreement were provided to the court but were not being revealed publicly because of the commercially sensitive nature of some of the information, Mr Fanning said.

Earlier, Martin Hayden SC, with Keith Farry BL, applied for appointment of the provisional liquidator.

In an affidavit David Hall, interim CEO of Console, said the charity had roughly 10,000 phone calls and 10,000 texts to its helpline, and carried out 5,000 counselling sessions in 2015.

There is an average of 29 calls a day to its helpline and it assists around 6,000 people a year, with 314 currently receiving one-to-one counselling. It employs 12 people full-time and has 60 contracted counsellors around the country.

Mr Hall reviewed the accounts and learned the charity had been loss-making for years; however, the accounts perhaps showed otherwise, he said.

Balance sheet

Accounts for year ended 2014 showed an operating surplus of €17,490 but it was balance sheet insolvent with a deficit of €105,739, he said.

Console got grants and donations but the reason it had survived over the last number of years was through support from the HSE, which gives it €53,000 a month, he said.

Mr Hall said he believed the charity required a monthly income of €105,000.

It appeared it operated a monthly deficit and, following fundraising, some of the debts were cleared. The €294,808 debt is made up of €77,500 due to Revenue, €74,421 due in wages due on July 20th, and €90,860 for suppliers.

Even if HSE support continued, it could not meet its obligations, primarily outreach services, face-to-face counselling and phone counselling.

The board of directors resolved on Wednesday to put Console into liquidation and Mr Hall met with the Minister for Health Simon Harris that day in relation to his concerns over its future.

Mr Justice Gilligan said he was satisfied Console appeared to be hopelessly insolvent and not in a position to meet its liabilities. He granted powers to the liquidator to provide the HSE, or the new provider, with any data relating to the files of people receiving counselling. That was subject to consent of those clients, the judge said.