The board of airport operator DAA and its chief executive Kenny Jacobs are on a legal collision course after Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien blocked a near-€1 million exit deal for Mr Jacobs.
Mr O’Brien is in Brazil this week at the Cop30 climate summit as the board of the State airports group takes legal advice following the Minister’s refusal to sign off on money for the chief executive.
Relations between the board and Mr Jacobs broke down over the summer after directors concluded the chief executive was unsuitable for the post.
Although the Minister asked the parties to pursue reconciliation, the board wrote back saying its stance was unchanged since directors unanimously approved the exit deal in September.
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Mr Jacobs has expressed willingness to stay on in his job, but lacks support from the board of the operator of Dublin and Cork airports.
The Minister has signalled to Government colleagues that he will not change tack, prompting knotty questions for the board about alternatives to the pay-off for Mr Jacobs.
That raises potential for litigation between the parties, something the September deal was specifically designed to avoid.
[ Worrying drift at DAA cannot continueOpens in new window ]
The payment was proposed after mediation talks between the DAA board and the chief executive, one of three options the board considered in August as it discussed Mr Jacobs’s future.
The others were to initiate a disciplinary process against the chief executive or for the board to vote no confidence in him.
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It is readily acknowledged in Government and DAA circles that such moves would be very likely to prompt court action by Mr Jacobs. After months of dispute with the board, he remains in office working on a business-as-usual basis.
When contacted, the DAA had no comment on the options before the board. A representative for Mr Jacobs also declined to comment.
Although the prospect of litigation risks escalating legal costs, the outcome would be determined outside the political realm in which Mr O’Brien decides the fate of the September mediation deal.
At a sensitive moment for the Minister, approval for a €960,000 payment to Mr Jacobs less than three years into his seven-year term would be certain to prompt an Opposition attack.
[ DAA board pushes back as Minister suggests reconciliation with Kenny JacobsOpens in new window ]
After Fianna Fáil’s disastrous presidential election campaign, the gulf between the Minister and DAA comes at a time when Mr O’Brien is seen as a prospective contender for the party leadership. The campaign fallout has raised questions within Fianna Fáil over the future of Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
The September deal also requires the approval of Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers, who has said nothing publicly about the DAA row.
The DAA board has a scheduled meeting on Friday. As Mr Jacobs remains an ex officio board member, he is expected to attend it.
[ Darragh O’Brien wants Kenny Jacobs DAA row resolved quicklyOpens in new window ]
The rift between the board and Mr Jacobs followed two protected disclosures against the chief executive, and board concern about other issues that emerged in relation to him when a senior barrister was investigating the formal complaints.
Such complaints were not upheld by the barrister. But the board did not investigate the other issues of concern because it opted instead to pursue mediation, under the chairmanship of industrial relations troubleshooter Kieran Mulvey.
Mediation was considered a lower-cost settlement option with fewer legal risks – and board figures believed it was the clear preference, in the circumstances, of Mr O’Brien’s department.
