Care crisis: ‘I’ve spent 10 years living in an institution — I deserve my own home’

Geraldine Lavelle, one of the many Irish people whose lives are limited by Section 39 underfunding, tells Sorcha Crowley about her hope that she will soon begin living a more normal life

Geraldine Lavelle came agonisingly close to independence in May only to learn days before a planned move into her own home that she would not get the necessary assistance to move due to ‘acute staff shortages’ — an instance of Section 39 underfunding.  Picture: James Connolly

Geraldine Lavelle is less than six weeks away from living what she hopes will be a “gloriously ordinary life” back home in her native Castlebar.

The disability rights campaigner, author, and artist should be over the moon with the latest HSE promise of enough home care support to allow her a “life-changing” move into a specially-adapted bungalow by mid-November.