It had been anticipated that the proposal, which would see Mr Jacobs leave his role in January and receive a near €1m payment, was poised to be signed a number of weeks ago before the presidential election.
The agreement remains to be approved and signed by Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien and Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers.
It was expected last month that the exit package would be signed off the week before Halloween.
However, the Irish Independent understands that that has not yet happened.
Mr Jacobs has been at loggerheads with the DAA board, which is headed by Basil Geoghegan, following the filing of two complaints against him made via protected disclosures.
The board immediately commenced an external review when those complaints were made, undertaken by senior counsel Mark Connaughton, who found that the complaints were unfounded. The whole process took about eight months but concluded the complaints lacked any merit, resulting in their being “comprehensively dismissed”.
No additional complaints have been made against Mr Jacobs.
At a DAA board meeting in Cork in September, Mr Jacobs is understood to have focused on operational matters and his likely departure was not discussed.
Mr Jacobs had implemented a strategy that including tackling Fingal County Council and the Government in relation to the controversial passenger cap at Dublin Airport, and also undertaking a number of operational changes.
The Government has said it will introduce legislation that will result in the cap being removed, but that process will take some time.
The DAA and Fingal County Council have had a fractious relationship as Mr Jacobs pushed to get the cap raised, and also tried to push through planning applications for major capital expenditure projects at Dublin Airport.
It has been described as an “elbows-out” approach.
Earlier this week, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary criticised the nature of Mr Jacobs’ planned departure, arguing that the public sector needs leaders who are not afraid to upset ministers, civil servants or councillors.
The DAA confirmed this week that it will breach the annual 32 million passenger cap at Dublin Airport early next week as the gateway saw its busiest ever October.
Mr Jacobs said that with seven weeks remaining in the year, including the hugely busy Christmas period, resolving the cap issue is essential.
source