Research shows 41% of Irish people would like to foster children

59 per cent of people have thought about fostering with 41 per cent saying they may in the future.

This is from research carried out by Five Rivers Fostering, to help determine why we are not recruiting enough foster carers in Ireland.

The highest intention to foster was found amongst people aged 25-35.

Only 36 per cent of people are aware that people who were not born in Ireland can foster, while 36 per cent of people are aware that people over 55 can foster.

Commenting on the findings, CEO of Five Rivers Fostering Deirdre McDonagh said: This is really encouraging to see, but there is clearly a disconnect with people not knowing how to take the first step as only 15 per cent of respondents said they would know how to go about becoming a foster carer.

“There is also a lack of awareness of who can foster. . “We have a huge diversity in our foster carers, and we only want more. We can see from our research that there are still misconceptions out there as to who is eligible to foster.

This week is Fostering Awareness Week, 10-16th March and we at Five River Fostering are looking to break down these misconceptions that can prevent people taking that first step to foster”.