The National Standards for Foster Care Committee was established in September 2001. The committee comprises representatives of the Department of Health and Children, the social services inspectorates in the Republic and in Northern Ireland, the health boards, the Irish Foster Care Association, the Irish Association of Social Workers and the Daughters of Charity. The wide-ranging consultation process, undertaken by the committee, played a vital part in the drafting process. This process enabled numerous groups and individuals with responsibility and an interest in foster care to make their views known. It ensured that the voices of everybody involved in foster care were heard, including the most important group – the children and young persons themselves.