The Minister for the Arts is "determined" to have a decision made on the redevelopment of the Abbey Theatre this year, its centenary.
Mr O'Donoghue insisted in the Dáil yesterday that no location for the site's redevelopment "has been ruled in or out".
The former Carlton cinema site on Dublin's O'Connell street had been mooted as a potential prime location for the enlarged theatre and the Minister said that the OPW would assess its "suitability and availability" as part of its "active consideration" of alternate locations.
However, he expressed concern about legal proceedings into Dublin City Council's compulsory purchase order for the site. "The problem with the Carlton cinema site is that it is embroiled in legal issues at present and it is not known when these issues will be resolved."
Mr O'Donoghue told Fine Gael's Arts spokesman, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, "in those circumstances the OPW will be examining alternative sites."
He was waiting for the OPW's report on the possible sites but "I remain determined to have decisions taken on the redevelopment of the Abbey theatre in this, its centenary year".
He declined to comment when Mr Deenihan asked him to confirm if coláiste Mhuire, in Parnell Square, and Grangegorman were being assessed for suitability.
"At this point I do not intend to rule in or rule out any site for the theatre except to say that all the options which the Office of Public Works put forward will be carefully considered," Mr O'Donoghue said.
In the long-running saga over the Abbey's future a number of locations have been considered.
The Carlton had emerged as potentially suitable when proposals to develop the Abbey on its existing site became "extremely problematic", because of the difficulties, including costs, involved in acquiring adjacent sites.
Mr O'Donoghue, who circulated his latest progress report to the Cabinet on Tuesday, said that the Government re-affirmed its commitment and support for the redevelopment project. Wherever it is located, it will have to be a "signature development, representative of a national theatre in the 21st century", compatible "with the status, profile and functions of a national theatre".
Mr O'Donoghue said there was a requirement for a ground-floor "footprint" that "is considerably larger than now exists. The larger ground footprint is non-negotiable if the redevelopment is to achieve its objectives." This means the theatre would have three enlarged auditoriums, an education and outreach facility, an archive, a restaurant and bar, public areas, disabled access for audiences and artists, theatre production facilities and a multi-purpose space.