The environment minister insists he was legally barred from interfering in the Priory Hall situation until this month.
Phil Hogan says he was forbidden from any role in helping to solve the dispute until the last mediation situation had collapsed.
But he's insisting that the government is now fully committed to getting a lasting solution for the residents of the complex.
He says there's been a constructive attitude in the talks which could see mortgages written off entirely:
