Former Senator Jillian VanTurnhout has said fraudulent charities need to be shut down.

Her comments follow the revelations made about Console on the RTÉ Investigations Unit on Prime Time last night.

The founder and CEO Paul Kelly along with his wife Patricia resigned following controversy over deception and mis-management at the suicide charity.

The programme also alleges that Mr Kelly represented himself as a priest – while seeking funds for a charity in the 80’s.

Jillian VanTurnhout has said an investigation needs to be carried out quickly: “I think the HSE has a body of work to do.

“The charity regulator needs to be fully equipped to do the work that it has been mandated to do.

“And we need to see that happening faster, because we need to see public trust in charities because the majority of charities are doing excellent work, but where they are not, where there is fraudulent activity we need them to be found out and ceased.”