The interim CEO of the embattled suicide charity Console David Hall has defended the regulator’s failure to intervene in allegations of corruption there.

Console has been shrouded in controversy since it was revealed that former head Paul Kelly and his family racked up credit card bills of around €500,000 on designer clothes and foreign trips.

Mr Kelly was forced to resign and yesterday the High Court granted a number of injunctions preventing him from accessing Console’s bank accounts and credit cards.

My salary for my role as Interim CEO of console will be €0. The services & staff of console deserve help & protection. #console

— David Hall (@davidhall75) June 30, 2016

The court case will continue next week.

In the meantime Hall has said the charity regulator should not be blamed for the problems.

“The regulator is only in place since May and he only got the report on Monday morning,” said Hall.

“The Oireachtas has failed in insuring the he has the adequate powers to protect something that is dear to everyone’s heart, not just in mental health issues. But, everyone seems to take advantage of beating that drum whenever it’s convenient.”