Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has said he stands over his statement that plans for a major sports campus at Abbotstown were "redolent of the Ceausescu era".
Mr McDowell said people who believed in a major stadium and complex at Abbotstown were "in the minority".
It comes after Mr Ahern said he still favoured a stadium at the Abbotstown site, and raised questions about the potential planning difficulties in getting Lansdowne Road redeveloped in the medium term.
Yesterday, Minister for Sport John O'Donoghue announced that the planning application for Lansdowne Road's redevelopment would be made by December.
Last year the Government abandoned the Abbotstown plan in favour of redevelopment at Lansdowne following strenuous objections by the PDs.
In May 2002, Mr McDowell turned it into an election issue when he made the Ceausescu comment.
Speaking on The Big Bite on RTÉ television yesterday afternoon, Mr McDowell said he stood by that earlier comment.
"I said that the putting together of all of our major sporting infrastructure in one campus was something which was redolent of the Ceausescu era; that it was an eastern European concept, and I strongly stand by that proposition.
"I believe that it is far healthier that sports facilities are spread around our country and around our city."