The Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, said the government stands over the Taoiseach's criticism of the Vatican over its handling of child abuse allegations.
Speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland, Ms Shatter reiterated that the Vatican has frustrated inquiries into clerical child abuse by failing to provide information as recently as three years ago.
"Because the request for information was made directly from the Murphy commission, the Vatican used the diplomatic ploy of refusing to deal with the matter because the request hadn't come through the Department of Foreign Affairs."
Mr Shatter said the Vatican failed to provide the Murphy commission with information it had available on child abuse allegations in both the Dublin and Cloyne dioceses.
"Very substantial assistance could have been provided through the offices of the Papal Nuncio. No such assistance was provided."