Minister for Transport Martin Cullen has strongly rejected the idea of Aer Lingus or any other airline operating and financing the new terminal at Dublin Airport.

Last week, Aer Lingus floated the idea that it might be open to financing and operating the terminal and handing it back to the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) after about 20 years.

However, the Minister distanced himself from this idea yesterday when speaking to reporters after meeting the DAA board. He said while he had not received such a proposal from Aer Lingus, he was not supportive. The Government's position is that the terminal will be owned and built by the DAA, with the question of who operates it dealt with at a latter date.

"I've no specific request [ from Aer Lingus]. But I'm not interested in duopolies either. I've seen what happened in other countries when airlines got their hands on terminals. It ends up being to the detriment of the public, of costs and of the whole interaction of an airport," he said. He added that the proposal was "mischievous".

"I think that it is much more speculation to be honest about it," he told reporters.

According to an Aer Lingus document submitted last week to the aviation regulator, Bill Prasifka, it should be possible for airlines to develop and finance a terminal at the airport and then sub-contract out the various services to independent third parties.

The submission said the DAA should consider "alternative" options for funding terminal two.

The submission read: "DAA and Aer Lingus (or Ryanair for that matter) could discuss an exclusive use and long-term occupancy agreement for the new terminal. In such case, we might propose that Aer Lingus would not only control the fitting out and equipping of the terminal, but also the construction of the building (under the supervision of the DAA) and its financing, with the building reverting to the DAA after a reasonable period, say 20 years".

However, Mr Cullen said he was not interested in further debates about the terminal and wanted to see it built as soon as possible. He said now was "time for delivery". He said on July 3rd about 76,000 passengers went through the airport, the highest ever.

Mr Cullen added that he expected to hear about a site for the new facility sometime in late August/early September and he would be "disappointed" if there were any legal challenges, including one from the McEvaddy brothers, who own land to the west of the airport.

Asked about what should happen, the Minister said: "Stop the messing around". He said it was not up to him to allocate a site and this was solely the function of the DAA. He said he had no view on which site was best.

He also rejected suggestions that Aer Lingus had not performed well in the first part of the year and that the airline had a "bright future".