In Northern Ireland, from the late 70s to the early 90s, the IRA killed over 40 alleged informers.

But the man who often found, tortured and sometimes killed these people on behalf of the IRA

was himself an informer, a secret British army agent with the codename Stakeknife.

Who gets to play God? And why me? Why my family? When lies are still being told to this day,

who do you believe? I wouldn't even know where to start and I'm with the IRA.

Steakknife. Listen first on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

On any day, around 55,000 families care for more than 65,000 children across the UK.

These foster families, who can be one or two parents, and have children of their own or not,

perform a vital function to give a loving and supportive home environment

to children whose own parents

are not around or can't manage, sometimes for a short period, other times for much longer.

But despite the good they do, foster carers are badly paid. In fact, I've been discovering

it's almost impossible to say what any foster, mum or dad will get. There's a bewildering array of allowances and fees.

They vary depending on who places the child and where the foster family lives.

There are also tax reliefs available and foster carers can claim some benefits.

Moneybox listener Hillary from West Wales has been fostering for 10 years

and she has to work on the side to give her children the life she wants them to have.

I'm fostering long-term three children, and they're aged 9, 12 and 13.

They do have differing needs than other children.

They need a lot of security and a lot of time and attention and

extra help with schooling. So I work with the local authority, not a private agency. And the fees,

the allowance, they call it, that you get per child varies on their age, but the average per child

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