Cabinet Committees Dail Éireann — 2026-02-24 ============================================================ Louis O'Hara (SF), Galway East Mixed messaging from the Government and the HSE has caused confusion and uncertainty about the future plans for an elective hospital at Merlin Park in Galway. The hospital has been promised for years. It is critical for healthcare in the west of Ireland and for taking pressure off University Hospital Galway, UHG. The people of Galway want immediate and full clarity on whether plans to build an elective hospital at Merlin Park are going ahead, and whether the funding to deliver these plans is in place. They want clarity on why there will not be any beds as part of this development, and if this will limit the number of procedures and treatments that can be carried out at this new elective hospital. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-24/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:40+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-24