Tánaiste Simon Harris has said that there is no need for any sort of "formal review" into media coverage of the recent fuel protests.
He was speaking after Minister for Arts Patrick O'Donovan said that he will be asking Coimisiún na Meán to review media coverage, including coverage from RTÉ News, of the protests.
Mr O'Donovan said he would be asking if the coverage was "balanced or was it skewed and I think that's a role for Coimisiún na Meán".
"Coimisiún na Meán may turn around to me and say 'nothing to see here, move along move along', but I'm going to ask them the question anyway," he said.
However, when asked about these comments on his way into a Cabinet meeting, Mr Harris said he is "a big supporter of freedom of the media, freedom of the press, as is the Government, as is the minister".
He said Mr O'Donovan "will be bringing forward legislative change later this year to further underpin the importance of freedom of the media".
"In line with a number of European developments, free media, a robust media, is an absolute, vital part of our democracy," he added.
"Of course, at the end of any difficult period, you can look back and say, at a moment a national crisis, can we get information out there? Are there learnings? But I certainly don't think there's any need for any sort of formal review. These are matters for Coimisiún na Meáin."
The Tánaiste said the media "like everybody in the country, were doing their best to deal with a fast evolving, very difficult situation" during the protests.
Yesterday, the National Union of Journalists described the remarks by Minister O'Donovan as "sinister and deeply disturbing".
The union's assistant general secretary, Séamus Dooley, said the minister had drawn a false equivalence to justify interference in the editorial independence of public service broadcasters and licensed radio services.
Green Party senator Malcom Noonan said Mr O'Donovan's call to review media coverage of the protests "infringes on the impartiality" of Coimisiún na Meán.
"The minister was clearly trying to suggest that we were all ganging up on them," he said.
Mr Noonan said it was "dangerous territory for the Government and the minister to be straying into".
He said the media had to report "on a fast, evolving situation" in multiple locations around the country".
"I commend them for that," he said.
Meanwhile, Labour TD Conor Sheehan welcomed the Tánaiste's confirmation that there would no investigation into media coverage.
However, he warned that "serious questions remain about the conduct and judgement" of the minister.
"It is deeply concerning that a Government minister would openly call for an investigation into how a public service broadcaster reported on protests," he said.
"That is not the role of a minister in a democratic society and it crosses a very clear line. It speaks to a worrying instinct towards control and interference that has no place in a modern democracy."
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said the minister "way overstepped the mark on an authoritarian manner".
He said his party has written a letter to the chair of the media committee asking for Comisiún na Mean and Mr O'Donovan to appear before the committee "straight away".
