Minister for Health Mary Harney is to receive legal advice this week on whether she can publish the Leas Cross report under Oireachtas privilege.
A review of 95 deaths at the north Co Dublin nursing home between 2002 and 2005 was completed by consultant geriatrician Prof Des O'Neill earlier this year, but the HSE said it could not be published in its current form.
Prof O'Neill has insisted his report is finished, but the HSE has said until it incorporates the responses of people criticised in it, it could not, on legal advice, be put into the public domain.
Speaking to reporters in Dublin today, Ms Harney said she had referred the situation to the Attorney General.
"Clearly there's an impasse between the HSE and Professor O'Neill and I don't want to see this report go unpublished. So if I can use the powers that I have or that an Oireachtas committee has to make the report public I would want to do that," Ms Harney said.
"But I would only do that on the advice of the Attorney General and I hope to get his advice this week," she added.
Prof O'Neill has said his findings in relation to Leas Cross were "grave" and "disturbing" and required urgent attention, claimed that what was now being suggested was "a judicial form of tribunal" - which was outside his terms of reference and which required judicial training.