The Minister for Health has been urged to buy St Michael's Hospital in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, for use as a "stepdown" facility for patients recovering from major operations.
Labour's health spokeswoman, Ms Liz McManus, said Mr Cowen had no choice but to buy the hospital - which the Sisters of Mercy have decided to sell - if he was serious about reducing queues for basic treatment.
Up to 300 acute hospital beds were being put to "inappropriate" use at any given time, Ms McManus said, and the health services were crying out for increased step-down facilities.