Why have ministers still not signed off on exit deal agreed between DAA and its CEO?

It’s seven weeks since the board of DAA and Kenny Jacobs agreed a settlement via mediation that would see him leave his post in January with a payment of about €960,000 and his legal costs picked up.

This follows a rift between the two sides dating back to early this year; a rift that cannot be repaired.

Yet the settlement still awaits sign-off from Government.

The deal requires a nod from the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, effectively the shareholder in State-owned DAA, and the Minister for Public Expenditure, Jack Chambers.

Would Zohran Mamdani’s plan for free buses work in Dublin?

Inside the €6bn Barchester deal that netted three Irish billionaires a major windfall

Fears over PTSB job cuts and free bus fares in Dublin

Almost two months on, there is no white smoke from Government Buildings. Given the settlement was unanimously approved by the board of DAA, and Jacobs has also signed up to its terms, why the delay?

The timing of the budget and the presidential election might have played a role in holding off on a decision.

In the heat of battle, O’Brien and Jacobs would not have wanted to provide any ammunition to the opposition by signing off on a big exit payment for a semi-state chief executive who is leaving his post early.

But both of those set pieces are now done and dusted.

DAA told the Government of the settlement terms in September. As reported by The Irish Times, Minister O’Brien was told the exit payment should be judged not in terms of fairness to Jacobs and more in terms of the value to DAA of returning to routine business after a period of turmoil.

Not approving the settlement would expose DAA and the State, as the shareholder, to significant legal and reputational risk, more costs and distraction from the board’s strategic work, he was told.

It is hard to imagine the ministers would not approve the deal in such circumstances.

DAA has two major business issues on its plate at Dublin Airport: the scrapping of the passenger cap and the expansion of the campus to prepare its growth. Yet it remains in limbo, unable to begin the process of appointing a new CEO to lead on these issues.

The time has come for a decision. Over to you, ministers.