After months of bitter stalemate between the DAA board and chief executive Kenny Jacobs, the endgame is afoot.
When thousands of staff in the State-owned airports group were told the board has appointed a deputy chief executive, it was only part of the story. News quickly followed that the board had put Jacobs on notice of its intention to suspend him on full pay, pending a new investigation.
Jacobs’ reply was awaited on Monday but the row now seems destined for the Four Courts.
This was the path foreseen once Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien blocked a settlement deal worth €960,000 for Jacobs. The package, agreed after mediation, included a further large sum for legal bills Jacobs racked up since formal complaints were made against him in February and March but not upheld.
[ DAA board tells CEO Kenny Jacobs of its intention to suspend him on full payOpens in new window ]
It was all too much for O’Brien. Rejecting severance terms backed unanimously by the DAA board, the Minister asked chairman Basil Geoghegan for fresh efforts to settle the affair. That led to talks between lawyers but no deal.
The parties went back to their Maginot Line, preparing for legal battle in what turned out to be a long phoney war. Now the board has deployed a big gun, raising questions as to what weaponry Jacobs uses in response. After months of argument, the situation has reached the critical point.
The irony, of course, is that mediation was always seen as the lower-cost settlement option with fewer risks. That moment has now passed. The warring parties are in line for a rapid escalation of costs and risk.
Although Jacobs was cleared after investigation into original formal complaints, board confidence was lost after new issues emerged during and after the inquiry by Mark Connaughton SC. The nature and extent of those issues may come to light if there is a public airing of the dispute. So, too might, Jacobs’ response to them.
The denouement finally looms.
