The Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has requested a report from An Garda Síochána on information relating to the Tuam babies case.
In a statement, the Department of Justice said "It is very important that we address these disturbing issues as sensitively as possible. There is no doubt that coverage over the last few days will have inevitably evoked very painful memories for people, many of whom are now quite elderly".
"There is now an interdepartmental process under way to examine how this complex, disturbing and tragic situation can be best addressed".
The Department says it has also been liaising with the gardai "so that the information available to them can feed into the interdepartmental process".
It adds that any decisions about criminal investigations will be made by An Garda Síochána.
Meanwhile there has been a call for the State to reach out to former residents of mother and baby homes around Ireland.
Dr. Sarah Anne Buckley from NUIG is also calling for an oral history to be compiled as part of the investigations that have been sparked by the discovery of a mass babies' grave in Galway.
She told Newstalk Breakfast earlier some of the women from these homes are still living in Ireland and we need to listen to them.
Local author and child of the Tuam home, JP Rodgers, pictured leaving the unmarked mass grave containing the remains of nearly 800 infants
A legal expert is also calling for the government to set up a Commission of Inquiry style examination after the revelations.
The Children's Minister has confirmed that whatever investigation is set up into the babies' grave in Tuam will also look at the possibility of other graves around the country.
Work is already underway on an 'inter-departmental' initiative. But Conor O'Mahony, lecturer in Constitutional Law at UCC, told Newstalk Breakfast the amount of material involved warrants a bigger effort.
In other developments, Amnesty International has joined calls for an investigation into the burial of the 796 children.
Yesterday the government addressed questioned from TDs on the topic in the Dáil, as the Children's Minister continued to consider the best way to proceed.
