The chief executive of airport operator DAA, Kenny Jacobs, would receive a settlement in the region of €1 million under proposals that would see him leave the role, The Irish Times understands.
A mediation process involving lawyers representing Mr Jacobs and the board of DAA has intensified over recent days.
The Irish Times reported on Wednesday that a serious rift had emerged between the chief executive and the board of the commercial State company, which runs Dublin and Cork airports.
It is understood that both sides are now considering settlement proposals that would see Mr Jacobs leave the company by mutual consent.
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It is unclear whether the proposals have been endorsed by the company or the Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers. Any such deal would have to be approved by both Ministers.
Mr Jacobs did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment.
A spokeswoman for DAA was not immediately in a position to comment. A spokeswoman for the Minister for Transport had no comment when contacted.
Mr Jacobs has a contract with DAA that runs until 2030, having been in the role since early 2023.
Earlier this week, it was reported in these pages that talks were under way between lawyers representing Mr Jacobs and the board. This was part of a mediation process chaired by the former head of the Workplace Relations Commission, Kieran Mulvey.
[ DAA chief Kenny Jacobs close to settlement to exit State-owned airport groupOpens in new window ]
A former senior executive at Ryanair, Cork-born Mr Jacobs was named as DAA chief executive in late 2022 in succession to Dalton Philips.
It is understood that some time ago complaints under a protected disclosure process were made against Mr Jacobs. However, following a process that ran for several months headed by senior counsel Mark Connaughton, these complaints were not upheld.
Still, tensions between Mr Jacobs and the board of DAA persisted, leading to the involvement of lawyers for both sides and Mr Mulvey as part of a mediation process.
The issues at DAA have been brought to the attention of senior figures in the Government.
Mr Jacobs engaged law firm Arthur Cox to represent him in negotiations with the company while DAA’s board, led by chairman Basil Geoghegan, has another legal firm, McCann FitzGerald, to act for it on the matter.
While CEOs of Irish semi-state companies typically have five-year contracts, Mr Jacobs’ deal was set at seven years at DAA.
Mr Jacobs received €285,000 in basic pay last year, but pension contributions and other taxable benefits brought his total remuneration to almost €375,000.
The duration of the contract as well as the high level of remuneration would have contributed to the overall settlement package.
The rift at the top of DAA comes at a time when the organisation is facing challenges to advance complex infrastructure and litigation over the 32 million annual passenger cap that limits airport growth
DAA submitted a €2.4 billion investment plan to Fingal County Council in late 2023, but the application is far from a decision. The local authority has said the process is stalled because noise regulators await documentation from DAA.
The proposed development includes upgrades to terminal one, a new pier at terminal two and a tunnel under the airport’s “crosswind” runway.
At the same time, DAA is struggling to secure permission from the council to increase the annual passenger limit at Dublin Airport to 40 million from 32 million.
The cap was imposed by planners in 2007 as a condition for allowing the airport’s second terminal to proceed. It was breached last year when 33.3 million passengers came through the airport, leading the local authority to issue an enforcement notice to DAA in July.
DAA recently decided to initiate a High Court judicial review over the enforcement notice. The cap was supposed to allay fears over traffic congestion around the airport but roads have since been upgraded.
While Fingal County Council has yet to decide on DAA’s application to lift the cap, the restriction has effectively been paused since April following various legal challenges. One aspect of the case now awaits a ruling from the European courts.
The county council’s enforcement order allows a two-year period to comply with the passenger capacity conditions, even as the cap suspension remains in place.
In an interview with the Sunday Independent in May, Mr Jacobs said he had brought a “take-no-s**t” attitude from Ryanair.
“We’re high performing,” he said in that interview. “We’ve had two record years, back-to-back. Yeah, we’re sticking our elbows out – and I’m comfortable with us having an uneasy relationship – because of our ambition and because we are really, really performing quite well.”
