The Director of Consumer Affairs, Ms Carmel Foley, is to examine if an alternative way can be found to make doctors and dentists publicly list prices after the Government dropped the plan.
The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Martin, said it would not be possible to enforce the proposal for legal and practical reasons.
His spokeswoman said it would not have been possible to enforce the order without accessing patients' records.
The move was promised last year by Mr Martin's predecessor, Ms Harney, on foot of a request by Ms Foley, who yesterday said she was disappointed the Government had dropped the plan. But there seemed to be compelling and overwhelming legal problems, and she understood that was the case.
"I'd like to examine it to see if something else can be done," she said.