The DAA board is set to scrap a key planning application at the centre of a row with Fingal County Council, as the endgame approaches in a standoff over the future of chief executive Kenny Jacobs.
The planning move comes before DAA directors send their definitive response to Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien on his decision to block a near-€1 million exit payment for Mr Jacobs.
The payout was supposed to end a boardroom rift in the State airports group.
After months of stalemate over Mr Jacobs’s future, Mr O’Brien’s return to Dublin from the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil has raised expectations of fresh board steps to finally settle the matter.
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This presents the prospect of court conflict if an agreed resolution cannot be found.
In the meantime, the board has resolved to halt a planning application lodged almost a year ago in which DAA sought Fingal Council approval for “no-build” measures to raise annual 32 million passenger cap at Dublin Airport to 36 million.
The decision was taken at a scheduled board meeting last Friday that ended without new moves in relation to Mr Jacobs.
The planning file in question was one of two separate DAA applications to Fingal Council for the loosening of legal restrictions on passenger numbers. The other is more detailed major infrastructure application lodged in late 2023 that remains with planners.
The cap was breached in 2024 and is expected to be breached again this year, but legal enforcement was suspended for two years in April pending litigation in the European courts.
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Current projections suggest the number of passengers in 2025 will reach 36.5 million, a figure which is 4.5 million more than is permissible under the cap.
The “no-build” application, backed by Mr Jacobs, was advanced as a fast-track solution to achieve Fingal Council’s blessing to lift the cap without new infrastructure.
But the December 2024 application ran into immediate trouble with planners, who quickly deemed it invalid. DAA’s angry response to that ruling then led Fingal Council to complain to Mr O’Brien’s department over what the local authority said was “shocking” conduct by the DAA.
The DAA submitted a revised “no-build” application last February, prompting council requests for more information and a separate request for data from aircraft noise regulators.
This disputed application remained with council planners even as the Cabinet resolved in October to approve the Minister’s plan to remove the cap via legislation.
“Regarding the procedural status of DAA’s operational application to [Fingal Council], DAA has no comment to make,” the group said in reply to queries.
Asked about board engagements with the Minister about Mr Jacobs, it said: “DAA has no comment to make regarding board matters, which are confidential.”
Relations between the board and Mr Jacobs broke down over summer after directors said the chief executive was unsuitable for the post.
Although the Minister asked for reconciliation, the board said its stance was unchanged since directors unanimously approved the exit deal in September.
Although two formal complaints against Mr Jacobs were not upheld earlier this year, the board remains concerned about other issues that emerged while a senior barrister was investigating the complaints.
Mr Jacobs has expressed willingness to stay on, but lacks board support.
The payment was proposed after mediation talks between the DAA board and Mr Jacobs, 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.
It is accepted in Government and DAA circles that such moves would be likely to prompt court action by Mr Jacobs.
