Education Minister and Galway West Fine Gael TD Hildegarde Naughton says she was "shocked" and "disappointed" by the chaotic confusion over a new elective hospital at Merlin Park.
It comes after highly confusing messaging in the Dáil, which seemed to indicate that the HSE was significantly downgrading the proposal.
The HSE has since apologised, for inaccurate information being supplied to Deputy John Connolly that suggested it was being significantly reduced in size.
Making matters even more confusing, there was also talk of 200 promised beds being scrapped.
That's now been clarified - the original plan in 2018 included the beds, but a revision in 2021 was instead for a same-day, low complexity surgery facility without beds.
But it appears that many people - including Government TDs - were unaware that the plan had changed - leading to mixed messaging.
Speaking to Galway Talks, Minister Naughton - who has championed the hospital for the past decade - said it's important that patients know everything is still going ahead as planned.
