The Government is expected to introduce legislation early in the new year to award guardianship rights to foster parents.
It is also committed to legislation that will allow long-term fostered children aged over 18 to apply to be adopted by their foster parents, Minister of State for Health and Children Brian Lenihan said in Galway.
Speaking at the Irish Foster Care Association's annual conference, Mr Lenihan said the Guardianship Bill was currently being drafted, and would apply to parents who had children in their continuous care for five years or more. Efforts were being taken to ensure that the Bill met the needs of children, their foster carers, natural parents and other guardians, he said.
The new legislation would involve "limited" guardianship rights, which would give foster carers equal status with health service executives on practical issues. Such issues include application for a passport, approval for invasive medical treatment and the right to sign school consent forms. Currently, all such documents have to be approved by the relevant health service executives.
Approval has also been sought for the "priority drafting" of the Adoption (Hague Convention, Adoption Authority and Miscellaneous) Bill, 2004, which would give fostered children reaching the age of 18 the right to be adopted by their carers.
This would also apply to long-term care arrangements, Mr Lenihan said. These commitments were welcomed by the association's manager, Pat Whelan, who said they had been lobbying for these initiatives for some time.
The association was formed in 1981 and has more than 1,000 members and 28 active branches. Its national office employs six people, with an additional 13 contract staff facilitating its training courses.
There are 5,000 children in the care of the State, of whom 4,600 are in foster care placements. But Ms Whelan said there were not nearly enough foster care families available, and there had been a steady annual decline in applications. She appealed to people who might be interested to contact the association at (01) 2961083.