Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has said that he would not have used the colourful language used by the Attorney General to describe the Judicial Appointments Bill.
He also said he agrees with Seamus Woulfe that the number of amendments added during committee stage of the bill means there are now constitutional issues with the legislation.
On Friday, Mr Woulfe described the bill as a "dog’s dinner" and said some amendments to the bill were "contradictory" and "unconstitutional".
He referred specifically to an amendment to remove the Attorney General from the Judicial Appointments Commission.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke, Mr Flanagan said that the bill is "in a difficult place".
The minister said he does not accept that the bill now needs to be scrapped or redrafted, and that the difficulties with it can be resolved, but it cannot be done without "due and careful consideration".
Mr Flanagan said he would describe it as a case of "too many cooks have somewhat spoiled the broth here".
He said the Government is committed to working with other parties in the Dáil to ensure that the legislation makes it onto the statue book.
The minister said he believes the Attorney General has been a key member of the process to date and that they should continue to be a member of the new process.
Speaking on the same programme, junior minister John Halligan said he fully supports Mr Ross's bill.
He said this was not an issue for Mr Ross, but the Independent Alliance, who he said are 100% behind Mr Ross.
Mr Halligan said that he trusted the Taoiseach, who has said Fine Gael will support the bill, and he believed it would pass.
Yesterday, Mr Ross has said he is "very optimistic" that the bill will be passed, and described it as a very serious requirement of the Independent Alliance in the Programme for Government.
Earlier, the Chair of the Oireachtas Justice Committee described Mr Woulfe’s comments as "highly inappropriate".
Sinn Féin's Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said it was rare that the Attorney General gave the Government advice "by megaphone".
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Ó Caoláin said it was important to reiterate that legislators decide on legislation and it is a responsibility that all members of the justice committee took seriously.
He told the programme that they should proceed with the bill and he was confident the end result will be a significant improvement on "what has been the case heretofore".
He added that it was his expectation that Sinn Féin would cooperate with the continued passage of the bill.
Fianna Fáil has called for the bill to be scrapped and a new one redrawn. The party's justice spokesperson Jim O'Callaghan described the bill as "deeply flawed".
