8 percent of children in the foster care system have no allocated social worker.

That's just one of the findings of a HIQA report into Foster Care services in the Midlands.

357 children were in care across Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford at the time of the inspections in May of this year, with some in the system since 2011 without a decision being made on their placement

The report from the Health Information and Quality Authority used 26 'standards' to measure services. Inspectors found none of the standards was being met.

Out of 111 case files examined, 12 children's cases were brought to the main social worker for immediate action, while 1 in ten foster carer's cases were brought forward.

8% of children did not have an allocated social worker, while almost half of all children in care did not have an up-to-date written care plan.

Kim Buckley has this report: