Fianna Fáil Cabinet ministers have refused to accept the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell's libel law changes unless new rights to privacy are guaranteed.
The issue was discussed briefly last month at the Cabinet table, where Mr McDowell was told that Fianna Fáil would not agree to his current plans.
Some Fianna Fáil ministers, including the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, insisted that some legally enforceable privacy rights would have to be included.
Though Government sources refused to comment publicly yesterday, it is understood that a number of FF ministers believe that privacy changes would have to be made before the defamation laws are eased.
The Minister for Transport is especially sensitive on the subject, given his experience last year after it emerged that he had hired a political supporter, Monica Leech, as PR adviser on €800 per day during his time in the Department of the Environment.
Accepting advice in 2003 from a special advisory group headed by barrister Hugh Mohan, Mr McDowell proposed establishing a Government-appointed statutory Press Council, but this met with staunch opposition from the media.
Another group that included representatives from the industry was subsequently set up and it recommended an independent press council and press ombudsman.
The ombudsman would hear and investigate complaints from members of the public, while the press council would meet monthly to oversee such work.
The council and ombudsman would have statutory powers under law and would be able to make findings in relation to journalists' reports subject to complaint. These recommendations, which are similar to the press complaints system in Sweden, were accepted by the Minister and included in a later draft.
He also proposed that newspapers and broadcasters would be able to apologise for reports without prejudicing their defence in libel actions. Currently, an apology is deemed as an admission of liability.
The Minister also intended to create a new libel defence of "fair and reasonable publication in a matter of public importance" for organisations who have few grounds to defend their actions.
Plaintiffs in future libel cases would also have to show that their reputations had suffered real and verifiable damage. Media organisations would also be able to lodge money in court for the first time in libel actions, which would show that the plaintiff had turned down a settlement.
If the draft had been approved, the Minister had hoped to have the heads of the Bill published before the summer, though this timetable is now impossible.