The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey has rejected the criticisms levelled at the Government by Ms Justice Mary Laffoy over its handling of her child abuse inquiry.
Speaking on RTE's Six Onenews this evening, Mr Dempsey, acknowledged the work done by the judge, but said he did not accept that the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse had been left "powerless" as alleged in the judge's resignation letter.
He said the Government had now "fully responded" to "her perception of what has happened over the past number of years".
Mr Dempsey said the chairwoman's resignation "absolutely does not" mean the end of the child abuse commission and that there was work that could be done by the various committees pending the outcome of the Government's review.
"The commission will remain. The commitment of the Government remains to try to bring closure to the various victims and the victims groups. We intend in the next couple of days to outline the next stages and the next steps in that," he said.
"Obviously one of the first things we'll be doing is looking towards the appointment of a new chairperson for the Commission. But the commitment that we have to bringing closure to the victims is as strong as it ever was."Mr Dempsey said the Government had been the first to acknowledge the "hurt and the suffering" that the victims of institutional abuse had suffered and had set up the commission, the Redress Board and other schemes to help them.
Questioned on the judge's allegation that the Government had undermined her independence, Mr Dempsey said: "That's not the view that the Government agrees with.
"At all times when went to do the review, we consulted with the Commission. I spoke with the judge on a number of occasions. It wasn't an issue that arose at that stage. The perception that the judge had that the continuation of the view was undermining her independence is not one that the Government would accept or that I would accept. I am sorry that she took that view.
"It was never my intention or the Government's intention and we certainly have respected the independence of the judge and respected the independence of the commission and will continue to do so."
Mr Dempsey said the Government had attempted to ensure the commission could work in a way that would look after the victims, get them "closure" and produce a report on where and when the abuse took place and who perpetrated it.
"We had 40 cases dealt with in the last couple of years. There are 1700 other cases and that's not the kind of progress we wanted," he said.
Mr Dempsey appealed for those involved in the process to take a less legalistic approach to the commission and to find a way forward that would not involve the same number of legal personnel.
Speaking on the same programme, a director of the One in Four group, Mr Colm O'Gorman questioned the motivation behind the Government's proposals to change the operation of the Laffoy Commission.
Mr O'Gorman asked whether any proposed review of the commission was "to move it forward or a matter of legal costs." He said more resources were needed to move the inquiry forward in an expeditious fashion.
He called on the Government to clarify whether the primary intention of the review was "justice [for people who had been abused] or protecting the taxpayer".
The proposals for changing the Commission have already been under consideration by the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, for many months. The Government is keen to diffuse the controversy ahead of a two-day Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting starting tomorrow in Sligo.