Legislation on the break-up of Aer Rianta will be enacted before the end of the Dáil summer term, the Minister for transport, Mr Brennan, said this morning.
Speaking on his return from the United States, where he had held talks with the US Secretary of State for Transport, Mr Norman Mineta, on the proposed US/EU "open skies" aviation policy, Mr Brennan also said he remained "fully committed" to a second terminal at Dublin Airport.
The open skies area would allow US and EU airlines to choose routes without having to adhere to national agreements such as the Shannon stopover.
On RTÉ Radio this morning, Mr Brennan said: "The secretary of State indicated to me that certainly between now and October the American side hope to complete a treaty. I understand from talking with EU Commissioner that from the EU side they were attempting to do it in a shorter timespan than that."
He said the agreement would involve two stages. The first would deal with the issue of airline ownership and some access issues will be discussed by the EU Council of Ministers in June.
Mr Brennan said he had made it clear to Mr Mineta that the open skies policy, while good for the State and for Aer Lingus, has implications for Shannon.
Therefore, the Minister said he would not be agreeing to any deal unless he was satisfied, in as much as is possible, the new deal gave Shannon an adjustment period to adapt to the new rules.
Responding to the Minister's comments, Ryanair chief executive Mr Michael O'Leary criticised the Government for its slow rollout of promised reforms.