There are more than 5,000 children in the care of the State and about 90 per cent of these are placed with foster carers, writes Sheila Wayman.
EVERYBODY IN the Lonergan household helps with the chores. They would need to, as John and Martina care for eight children in their seven-bedroom house outside Cahir, Co Tipperary.
"I love cooking, but I'm not too keen on the housework," says Martina. "The children all have their jobs: we have a rota, week on, week off."
The physical work of running the household is not a problem, she says - the emotional challenge is the hard part. While the oldest three, aged 19, 17, and 16, are the Lonergans' own children, the other five, aged 11 to three, are all foster children - two sets of siblings - who inevitably come with emotional baggage.
There are more than 5,000 children in the care of the State and about 90 per cent of these are placed with foster carers. It is a last resort to remove children from their own home, whether into short- or long-term care.
The reasons are varied: from drug and alcohol addiction in the family, to domestic violence, sexual abuse, neglect or a parent's illness. In more than half of cases, a relative will take over.
The Lonergans have fostered 42 children over the last seven years, most of them aged under 10. "It was something I always wanted to do and I talked my husband around," says Martina. "He loves it every bit as much as I do now. It is something you could not do unless you loved it."
They become very attached to many of the children, particularly those they get as infants. "To hand them over is just terrible. A lot of tears have been shed over babies.
"I have had three; one went for adoption and two went home. The aim is always to reunite them with their families but sometimes it is just not possible. Sometimes a relative will step in and take them.
She believes it is best to wait until your own children are at least six or seven before considering fostering.
"For our children it is more of a sacrifice. They never asked to foster,'' she points out. "You have to remember your own family comes first. If the foster children don't get on with your own children, you know the fostering is not working.''
Does she feel as a foster carer she gets enough support? "Not on the HSE side. I feel sorry for social workers - they are trying to do two or three people's jobs, so they cannot give the children the time they need."
Is it frustrating at times? "Frustrating isn't the word. You think: 'What the hell am I doing this for?' What's so frustrating is when you see the social worker doing something you know is so wrong. They forget you have the child 24 hours a day. It's supposed to be a partnership but sometimes we are not listened to enough."
The Irish Foster Care Association (IFCA) is there for back-up if you have problems, says Lonergan. Founded in 1981, it represents 55 per cent of foster carers and its philosophy is that children grow best in families, ideally with their natural parents or, if that's not possible, a substitute family.
The director, Deirdre McTeigue, as a former social worker and foster parent, knows the issues from both sides. The major problem is a shortage of social workers, made more acute by the HSE recruitment embargo introduced last autumn.
The social worker is pivotal in fostering, McTeigue explains, identifying the needs of a child and ensuring that they are met, and also looking after the rights and responsibilities of birth parents and foster parents.
"We hear of many situations where children in foster care have no allocated social worker and the IFCA is aware of social workers carrying caseloads in excess of 50 children in care.
"The kids in care have already suffered," says McTeigue. "The State has taken over as a parent and they are failing as a parent. When they come into foster care, which is State care, it has to be better than where they came from. If it is not, we have to ask why we are doing this. We are failing the children again."
The HSE confirmed in March that 13 per cent of children in foster care had no dedicated social worker, in breach of national standards for foster care. However, it stressed that the majority of children were allocated a social worker.
"Where there are immediate operational difficulties in assigning one social worker to a family, because of other priority child protection workloads within an area or staff availability, social workers are assigned based upon a needs assessment and prioritisation," says an HSE spokesman.
"Some of these cases relate to children in very stable fostering placements, provided perhaps by a relative. In other situations it is acknowledged that the availability of a dedicated social worker would be supportive to foster parents and the child through home visits and regular telephone contact."
A national recruitment campaign for social workers is to start shortly.
There is a huge shortage of foster carers and those who do volunteer need all the support they can get.
"The children who come into care have challenging behaviour," says McTeigue. "The foster parents are not professionals. They are salt-of-the-earth people who have a wish to care for other children. When it works, it's magic and, most of the time, it does work."
Prospective foster carers undergo rigorous interviews and home assessment by a social worker. If approved, they do an initial training course over six weeks, conducted by social workers and other foster carers. A weekly allowance of just over €300 is paid towards the day-to-day costs of caring for a foster child.
The IFTA is campaigning for a change in legislation to widen eligibility for adoption of long-term foster children for whom there is no prospect of a return to their birth family. As the law stands, it is based on parents' rights rather than children's rights, McTeigue says.
"If they were adopted, they would no longer be in the care of the State and no longer the responsibility of social workers," she points out.
Social workers are only available to organise access between foster children and their birth families on weekdays, from nine to five. Outside of these hours, the foster carers must facilitate it. McTeigue wonders if the judiciary is aware of this when granting weekend access orders.
Martina Lonergan says her pet hate is access being granted on a Sunday, which is the only day she and John, a farmer, and the children can head off somewhere. She has no problem with Saturdays.
Giving up their weekends is only one of the many sacrifices, they make. But they willingly do it for vulnerable children, some of whom are starved of both affection and food.
"One little boy, an eight-year-old, came to us and he had breakfast with us the first morning. Then at lunchtime I put food on the table for him. 'Are we having more food today?' he asked, amazed, his little eyes looking up at me."
• The Irish Foster Care Association can be contacted on 01-296 1083 or by e-mail: info@ifca.ie