Ms Catherine Bond:

With the IFCA membership people can join up online. When a person has been before a foster care committee and has just been approved as a foster carer it is a wonderful day but it important that the information is disseminated by the committee to a new foster carer to point out the support organisations that will support and assist the foster carer. We achieve membership through promotion of fostering fortnight and through various campaigns we run. We have also been in discussion with Tusla to look to see how more new foster carers can become members of IFCA. We offer an insurance policy to foster carers that protects them in the event of any allegation being made against them. It offers the foster carers legal protection. It is essential that foster carers would become members of IFCA. It is always a challenge to seek and promote to get new members in. This is one of our key objectives.