The Minister for Transport has said it "is possible" that the legislation to abolish the passenger cap at Dublin Airport will be in place by September.
Last month, the Cabinet approved draft legislation to remove the 32 million passenger restriction, which was a condition in a 2007 planning permission.
The Oireachtas Transport Committee has been holding hearings as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026.
The cap is currently suspended by the High Court pending the outcome of legal proceedings referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Darragh O'Brien previously said he hoped the new law would be enacted before the end of the year.
Minister O’Brien said he believes it will be "possible" to have the legislation enacted before October.
"I do. I actually earnestly believe it is. The legislation is robust."
He said it is "very important" that there is pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill, to allow residents, stakeholders, airlines and the airport to feed into the process.
"I will receive that report in early May, and then once I receive the report, obviously I've got to look at it and see are there things we need to change with the legislation, but I want to proceed pretty much straight away."
Minister O’Brien said he intends to move the legislation "as expeditiously as possible".
"I want to get it in this year. I believe we can, and with cooperation across the House, I think we can accelerate that time scale.
"We won't be dragging our feet on it. If I can get it in sooner, by September, I will."
