Minister of State Roisin Shortall says she plans to meet her senior colleague in the Department of Health, James Reilly, later in the week.
She made her comments in the wake of a row over his decision to expand a list of proposed healthcare centres, which she had drawn up.
Ms Shortall said she had spoken to James Reilly and would meet him later this week.
Asked about his decision to expand the criteria for primary care centres, Ms Shortall warned that there was very good information in this area pointing to deprivation as a key indicator and it would be foolish to ignore it.
Mr Reilly had said the inclusion of two centres in his own area came about when he decided to change the ground rules, a move he insisted he would take again.
Earlier, Ms Shortall said it is crucial people reduce their level of alcohol consumption.
She was speaking at the launch of a survey which showed that over half of current drinkers engage in so-called binge drinking once a month.
Ms Shortall said she was determined that effective steps be taken to address problems associated with it.
The study defined such behaviour as consuming four pints of beer or a bottle of wine in a single sitting.
The survey, conducted by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, also discovered that the numbers classified as non-drinkers north and south has fallen from 19% to 13%.
The minister said that in 2008 alcohol had been responsible for 88 deaths per month and was implicated in over half of all suicides, as well as a quarter of all injuries recorded at hospitals’ emergency departments.
Ms Shortall said she was confident that Mr Reilly supported her efforts to tackle the alcohol problem.
She said the statistics were very stark, particularly in relation to young people aged between 18 and 24.
She told a news conference that she hoped to bring proposals in the area forward to Government within weeks.
However, she disclosed that a 2016 deadline for phasing out alcohol sponsorship of sporting events had been relaxed.
In response to the report the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland said: "The misuse of alcohol is absolutely contrary to the best interests of the drinks industry. We fully recognise the need to address alcohol misuse, and teenage and binge-drinking in particular.
However the group challenged the suggestion that alcohol consumption is increasing and said CSO and Revenue data shows a 3% drop in consumption this year and a 20% drop over the past decade.
"ABFI continues to work with Government on finding solutions to address misuse and will also review today's important report and recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Drugs," the group said.
