A long-awaited report into the handling of clerical child sex abuse allegations in a diocese in Cork is due to be made public within weeks.
Justice Minister Alan Shatter said the Murphy report is expected to be brought before the Cabinet this week and published in the coming days.
The report centers on allegations of child sexual abuse against 19 clerics operating in the Diocese of Cloyne between 1996 and 2009.
The High Court ruled in April that one chapter be censored over fears it could prejudice the criminal trial of an alleged pedophile priest.
However, Mr. Shatter said he had hoped the report would have been published by now.
"It's been a long drawn out process of consultations involving lawyers who had an interest in the matter and unfortunately it's been more long drawn out than I anticipated," he said.
"It looked as if it might be necessary to make a court application to get some further clarity on the matter, but as a result of legal advice I received at the end of last week that doesn't appear to be the case.
"We're now moving to a position where it is likely the report can be brought before cabinet soon and published very shortly thereafter," he added.
The report's publication follows a two-year investigation by Judge Yvonne Murphy, who also probed the handling of abuse claims in the Dublin Archdiocese.
The state inquiry was ordered in January 2009 after a damning report by the Catholic Church's abuse watchdog found that the then Bishop of Cloyne, John Magee, took minimal action over a series of child abuse allegations against two of his priests.
Meanwhile, survivors of a Protestant children's home where at least 200 babies and infants died want their case included in a government review.
Former resident, Derek Leinster, has called on TDs to demand Bethany Home in Dublin is part of an investigation into the state's involvement in the notorious Magdalene laundries.
The Bethany Survivors' Group represents people who were infants at the Rathgar home, which was run between 1922 and 1972. It was recently refused access to a state-run compensation fund for a second time.
A government committee will report on the state's role in alleged abuse at the laundries, which were operated by four Catholic religious orders. Leinster, who was in Bethany Home from 1941-45, wrote to TDs pleading the remit be extended to include the Protestant home.
"There are similarities with the case put by successive governments in their refusal to add Magdalene laundries and Bethany Home to the Schedule to the Redress Act," Leinster wrote.
"It is to be hoped you may be in position to address that historic wrong, which is a continuing stain on the reputation of Irish society. I ask you to review this material and ask the ministers responsible to include Bethany Home within your remit. State neglect of Bethany Home residents is also a stain on Irish society."
