Details of vetting procedures for thousands of new staff at schools around the country are expected to be announced in early October, the Department of Justice has said.
This follows reports of a rift between the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, and his Cabinet colleague, Mr McDowell, over delays in the introduction of the measures.
Mr Dempsey was quoted as saying he had written to the Department of Justice to ask what progress had been made in introducing vetting procedures for school staff, but had received no response.
However in a statement, the Department of Justice said it had responded in July to a letter from Mr Dempsey regarding the matter.
This was subsequently confirmed by Mr Dempsey's office.
"Minister McDowell, in order to give priority to the matter, which involves a number of Government Departments, asked the Minister of State with responsibility for children at the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Health and Children and Education and Science to progress the implementation of the working group's (on vetting of staff) report," the Department of Justice statement said.
"Minister Lenihan's work in this regard is well advanced and he has been in contact with all of the Departments concerned.
"It is expected that we will be in a position to announce details of the new vetting arrangements in early October."
Mr Dempsey yesterday refused to comment further on the matter. He said he had "every confidence" that the new system would be in place within the projected timeframe
However, Fine Gael accused Mr Dempsey of being "just as guilty" as Mr McDowell in delaying the vetting legislation.
Its education spokeswoman, Ms Olwyn Enright TD, said he was engaging in "nothing less than politically-motivated, hypocritical posturing" in criticising Mr McDowell.
"In a blatant attempt to pass the political buck, Noel Dempsey is taking a cheap shot at his colleague, Michael McDowell, blaming him for the delay in bringing forward a proper system of vetting for staff at our schools.
"However, Minister Dempsey himself has had ample opportunity to progress this critically important matter, but has failed categorically to get his act together."