Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has urged the political parties at Stormont to complete the transfer of justice and policing powers as soon as possible.
Minister Martin called for all elements of the Good Friday Agreement to be respected and implemented.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last month came up with the funding to pay for transferring justice and policing powers from Westminster to Stormont.
Much to the annoyance of Sinn Féin, its main partner in government, the DUP is stalling.
It is now demanding other concessions including new arrangements on contentious parades.
The suspicion is that the DUP is preoccupied with courting hardline unionist votes in the run up to next year's Westminster election.
Up to now the Government has noted the tensions in the Stormont executive but kept out of the row. Yesterday evening that changed.
In a speech to the Seanad, Mr Martin urged the Stormont parties to complete the devolution of justice and policing.
He also said solutions about contentious parades cannot be demanded as a prerequisite for progress in other areas.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has welcomed the statement by Mr Martin.
He said: 'His statement outlines the progress which has been made and this is substantial and very significant. It also outlines areas where more work needs to be done.'
