The Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, is to bring forward amended proposals at today's Cabinet meeting for the relaxation of retail planning guidelines to enable furniture superstores such as Ikea to locate in Ireland.
The proposals will not name Ikea in particular, but will outline a lifting of the cap for non-food retail outlets on urban regeneration sites.
It will also identify specific towns and cities where the relaxation will apply.
Officials in the Department of the Environment are privately confident that the proposals are now detailed enough to allay the concerns that caused the Government to postpone a decision on the relaxation last month.
At that meeting last month, the Cabinet sought additional information on the proposed relaxation.
A number of ministers were concerned that the then proposals could raise competition problems and lead to further relaxation demands as they would have only applied to the Ikea proposals.
Ministers were also worried about the potential impact of the proposals on competition and on traffic along the M50, close to a site in Ballymun which has been earmarked for the Swedish furniture giant.
Mr Roche, who was abroad during the last Cabinet meeting when a decision was postponed, believes he can convince his colleagues of the merits of his proposals, which he considers to be general in nature.
Under current retail planning guidelines, warehouse outlets are confined to a maximum size of 6,000 square metres, less than a quarter of the size of most Ikea outlets. The Minister's proposal will see this cap lifted in very specific circumstances.
The relaxation will apply to outlets selling only durable goods, which will continue the cap on food outlets, preventing hypermarkets from establishing in Ireland.
The relaxation will only apply to sites that have been designated for urban renewal or development under integrated area plans.
The proposed relaxation would be of specific benefit to Ikea, which has already identified a site in Ballymun, close to the M50, which is within the Ballymun regeneration area.
Mr Roche's proposals received a boost before Christmas when the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Martin, said he supported the moves.
Mr Martin told the Dáil:"My Department has consistently supported the Competition Authority in this regard, on the grounds that it would facilitate greater competition and greater entry into the market, and that it would be beneficial to consumers."