Twelve Cabinet Ministers have declined to state their position on the Oireachtas committee's recommendations on the Eighth Amendment.
The committee published its final report on Wednesday, which recommended introducing a GP-led abortion service and allowing for terminations up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, without restriction.
Abortions should also be permitted when the life or the health of a mother is at risk and in the cases of fatal foetal abnormalities, the committee’s report concludes.
The Government is not bound to accept the committee’s recommendations but a number of senior Ministers have declared their support for their proposals.
Minister for Health Simon Harris said he wanted to give detailed consideration to the report before outlining his position.
Mr Harris told The Irish Times he believed there was a necessity for change and he wanted to be the Minister to put this to a referendum.
The committee gave detailed consideration to complex issues and its findings deserve to be properly scrutinised by all Oireachtas members, he added.
“ I will now consider the report in its entirety and will also liaise with my department on the recommendations. I look forward to Government considering this issue in January.”
The Government has committed to holding a referendum on the Eighth Amendment, which places the life of the unborn on an equal footing to the mother, in May.
A number of senior Ministers have confirmed their support for the proposals but 12 members of Cabinet, including Mr Harris, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Simon Coveney, have said they will not state a position on the proposals until the new year.
Heather Humphreys, Paschal Donohoe, Richard Bruton, Michael Ring, Joe McHugh, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, Denis Naughten and Michael Creed said they wanted to consider the report before outlining their position.
Paul Kehoe did not respond to a request for comment on this matter over recent days.
The two Independent Alliance Ministers Finian McGrath and Shane Ross have said they are in favour of repeal and would consider the other recommendations with supporters.
Late last week six Cabinet Ministers indicated their support for the Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment’s recommendation to remove article 40.3.3 from the Constitution and allow for abortions up to 12 weeks. They included Minister for Culture Josepha Madigan, Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan, Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy, Minister for Transport Shane Ross, Minister for Children Katherine Zappone and Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty confirmed they are in favour of the proposals made by the committee.
However on Sunday Mr Ross said he was in favour or repeal and would consider the other recommendations in coming weeks.
The Fianna Fail leader Micheál Martin has also declined to state a position until the new year.
Fine Gael TD Kate O'Connell said the Citizens Assembly and the Oireachtas committee had given the Government a "clear direction" on what it should do.
None of their recommendations came about easily and were based on a huge amount of evidence, Ms O’Connell added.
Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly said it would be remiss of the Government to ignore the committee’s recommendations.
The Government will consider the recommendations at a meeting of the Cabinet on January 9th. Fine Gael will also hold a special parliamentary party on the matter on January 15th.
Legislation would have to be produced by January 24th if the Government is to meet its May deadline.
Meanwhile, a minority report released by three of the committee members recommended the retention of Eighth Amendment and called for the establishment of a new Citizens Assembly to examine alternatives to abortion.
