Finance Minister, Michael Noonan has told Bloomberg that the future of Aer Lingus will be decided on "commercial grounds" and not political.
Mr Noonan says the Government will need to wait and see whether IAG returns with another offer - after the Transport Minister yesterday called for more guarantees about the future of the Heathrow landing slots.
It comes as Labour members prepare for a meeting to discuss a motion calling for the Government to block the sale of the airline.
Minister Noonan says a deal for Aer Lingus isn't off the table - but he added that the Government isn't the only party involved in the deal.
The Limerick City TD also said that the Government will initially sell no more than 25 percent of its stake in AIB.
The sale will take place "at the back end of this year" - or early in 2016.
The Minister also claims that Ireland is not heading back into a boom-bust cycle - he predicts the country will enjoy steady growth of between 3 and 4 percent in the coming years.
Mr Noonan also told Bloomberg that recent Eurogroup discussions over Greek debt have been heated - but yesterday's conference call was calm.
He reiterated the Government's stance that it would not be in favour of a writing-down of Greek debt.
