Staff at the ISPCC will today meet the chairwoman, Ms Mary Bennett, as the organisation seeks to recover from the arrest of a senior official as part of a fraud investigation.
At the weekend Ms Bennett appealed to the public "not to abandon us at this difficult time".
Ms Olive Braiden, director of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, last night criticised the level of media interest in the ISPCC and its "negative tone". Nobody was giving the ISPCC credit for the good work it had done for children, she said. She believed much of the coverage of the society's troubles would prove to be exaggerated.
Ms Braiden confirmed that the ISPCC had invited the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre to provide a representative for the committee which the society has set up to gather complaints from volunteers. But she said it had turned down this request because of the demands on the DRCC's own staff.
Today Ms Bennett will attempt to reassure the staff of the ISPCC following the worst two weeks in the society's history.
Apart from the issue of fraud, the society has come under sustained criticism for its treatment of volunteers, particularly for the now-abandoned policy of requiring them to raise £300 in ticket sales. Many volunteers have left or have been "de-rostered" because they would not, or could not, raise the £300.
Ms Bennett will also meet management consultants Deloitte & Touche today. The consultancy will examine the management and internal controls of the society.
Also today, Mr Paul Gilligan, the society's director of services, will take on an expanded management role "in support of the senior management at the society", the ISPCC said at the weekend.
Appealing to the public for continued support, Ms Bennett said children still needed the services of the ISPCC.
Ms Bennett said that the organisation does not yet know how much, if any, money is missing. The fraud investigation was sparked by a report in the Sunday Business Post about the undercounting of money in collectors' buckets over a number of days.