Children were sent to foster carers who were not assessed or approved

Children were sent to foster carers who were not yet either assessed or approved, while five foster families were still caring for children despite have their application to the service rejected.

These are among the findings of an inspection report into fostering services in Cork published by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) yesterday.

Overall, it said the fostering service of Ireland was generally of a high standard, with children well cared for and receiving a good level of support from professionally qualified social workers.