Wanted: foster parents, who must be willing to take into the warmth of their family one or more children currently in care. Applicants must be willing to give care and attention until the child is ready to return to his natural family, or they are ready to receive him. Payment: between £71.55 and £85.75 per week, plus other, less tangible rewards.

For a variety of reasons, the system of foster care is under pressure, with the demand for foster parents far exceeding supply. Some care workers cite the economic boom for the shortage of foster parents; others suggest fear of allegations of sexual abuse is deterring people from putting themselves forward. Whatever the underlying causes, more foster carers are urgently needed, according to the Irish Foster Care Association.

The latest available figures from the Department of Health and Children show that almost 4,000 children are in State care in the Republic. Of those, almost 2,500 have been placed in foster care on either a short or longterm basis. Others are with relatives and a large number are in residential care, some of whom are on a waiting list for placement with a foster carer.

Recruitment of prospective foster parents has never been so necessary. "It is very difficult to recruit people willing to foster, even though the criteria have been amended," says Mary Collins, spokesperson for the Irish Foster Care Association.

"You can be unmarried, a single parent, you don't need to own your own house and, in some cases, you can be a single male, although it is likely the child would have previously been known to you." The age profile is also more realistic: the rule whereby a foster parent had to be no more than 40 years older than the child has been relaxed. As people are marrying older and having children later, the parent profile is older.

Mary Collins has fostered herself, having been drawn to it by an ad she saw in the Cork Examiner in the early 1980s, looking for a home for a four-year-old boy with special needs. Anyone interested was invited along to an informal meeting. About 60 people attended and the child found a good home. "Nowadays, you'd be lucky to get 15," she says.

Collins believes one of the biggest problems facing fostering is the risk of either sexual or physical abuse allegations against the foster carer. The IFCA is there to offer support for families during this time, but it can be a very traumatic experience.

For most people fostering is an altruistic gesture. Children in care have problems and can be difficult to deal with. For one family in five, the relationship between child and carer breaks down.

The best recruitment tool is a successful fostering set-up, says Collins. "If families were well supported by the health boards and social workers, it would attract more people to come forward. A national awareness campaign should be launched and localised."

"The situation is getting worse," agrees Francis Chance, head social worker in Dublin's north inner-city and Ballymun. "The availability to parent full time is no longer there. The Celtic Tiger is having a negative effect on recruitment," he says.

At the moment there are 37 children in his area - which is one of 10 in the Eastern region - in need of foster care.

The age of children in care ranges from new-born to late teens. Fifty per cent are in care voluntarily (i.e. with the parents' consent), with the remaining 50 per cent there on a statutory basis.

"The families must be child-centred and committed before considering fostering. Once that's there, everything else flows," says Chance. "It's important that families understand the whole issue of fostering: that they are only caring for someone else's child until they can be reunited with their natural family. The goal is to keep children in care for the shortest possible time."

Typically, a child is taken into care when one or other of the parents has an addiction, a learning disability or is mentally unstable. The parents may be committed to the child, but they tend to have poor parenting skills. Usually, the child is removed and social workers work with the family to improve their skills and return their child. In the case where a child is either physically or sexually abused in their own family, the whole family is assessed and decisions are made on the necessity of long-term or permanent care for the victim.

When children come into care they are placed with foster parents as quickly as possible, depending on the availability of families. "Sometimes the need is so great, best practice isn't always followed," says Sarah Blackmore, spokesperson for the Irish Association of Social Workers.

Children end up in families not best matched to their needs, she says. "We should be working on the premise of prevention being better than cure - not just fire-brigade stuff. If there were more resources and more social workers, there would be time to work the family through their problems. No one wants to remove a child from his or her home: the damage is irreparable. The best solution is for the child to stay with their family."

Robbie Gilligan, senior lecturer in social work in the Department of Social Studies at TCD, was a foster parent for a number of years. He describes fostering as a demanding but rewarding experience, complex, but not impossible.

You need to be willing to talk and be prepared for positive and negative effects during the time the child is with you, he says. "Children need to feel part of the family, but bonding must be done at the child's pace." Worrying for some is the possibility of attachment to the child, so preparation and a clear understanding of the carer's role is essential. "It's a mistake to think children can't bond with two sets of parents. That they would favour one over the other isn't necessarily true, but it does require negotiation and adjustment - this is a key role for the social worker.

"The system is a few steps behind where the game is now. There are economic and social pressures. People have busier lifestyles," he says.

Gilligan also points out that the Government policy of attracting women back into the workforce is one of the factors contributing to the problem of recruiting foster parents.

He compares the present system to "building a house, but not having enough roof tiles to finish the job. There's a hit-and-miss attitude about the support that's available. A more realistic approach is needed." He agrees there is a need for more social workers: "ideally the ratio should be set at one social worker for every six foster families. At present, we fall way short of that figure. It costs money to provide support. No support results in no confidence in the system. The alternative to foster care is residential care, which is hugely expensive. If the health boards were to put more money into the larger picture of fostering, things would improve."

Mary Collins is on the working group at the Department of Health and Children on the issue of fostering and recruitment of foster carers. The group is considering ways of making fostering more appealing. Suggested incentives include increasing the weekly allowance (£71.55 for children aged up to 10 and £85.75 for hose aged 1218) given to carers.

It's a complicated issue. Would more money attract carers more motivated by financial gain, or is the rate of allowance driving people to work for private foster care providers?

Should carers become "professional" and receive a proper salary, or would this move make fostering just a job instead of a vocation?

"It is important not to stress the recruitment drive alone," says Robbie Gilligan, "but also to hold onto the existing foster carers and address their needs." He sums up the debate neatly: "Do we use the existing model of volunteers who get expenses, or the model of real money for a real job? This is the debate which now faces the future of fostering - volunteer versus professional."