The leader of the Seanad, Mrs Mary O'Rourke, today oversaw the passing of a Bill paving the way for the break-up of Aer Rianta while, unusually, opposing the Government-sponsored plan.
The controversial Airports Bill, which provides for creating three separate companies to run Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports, is being hurriedly pushed through by the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, after the issue threatened to scupper agreement in the recent national pay talks.
Mrs O'Rourke, his party colleague and predecessor as minister in charge of transport, today told the house the Bill was rushed, ill-thought-out and faulty.
She continued the attack she began yesterday by saying a part of the Bill she claimed was drafted by the private law firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice, contained errors in a section relating to the the Aer Rianta chief executive.
Mr Brennan said that while the firm had an input in the drafting process as consultants to the department the wording was drafted by the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel and the Office of the Attorney General.
The Bill which has now passed all stages of the Oireachtas and will empower the Minister to stand down the board of Aer Rianta and rename the company once it has been signed into law by the President, Mrs McAleese.
Fine Gael's Seanad transport spokesman Mr Fergal Browne later warned that questions remained unanswered.
"The distribution of assets between the three airports is just one aspect of this flawed legislation which could cause problems in the future.
"In the longer-term, there is a real danger that Transport Minister Seamus Brennan's premature actions, in rail-roading this legislation through, could undermine the long-term viability of this successful state entity."
Mr Browne also claimed there was no independent mechanism in place to deal with potential disputes arising between the three airports over the distribution of assets.