Airport boss and DAA board invited to attend next month to address governance concerns
“I am happy to attend and my intention is to accept the invite and attend the JOC [Joint Oireachtas Committee] on January 21,” he said by email.
The chair of the Joint Oireachtas Transport Committee, Fine Gael TD Michael Murphy, confirmed an invitation was sent to the DAA board last week.
The request comes amid ongoing fallout between DAA chief executive Mr Jacobs and the company’s board, which is headed by its chair, Basil Geoghegan.
It’s not yet clear if any other members of the board, including Mr Geoghegan, will appear at the meeting.
“I think it’s very important that they do respond positively to the invitation,” Mr Murphy said. “There are matters in the public domain that are of concern to me, as chair.”
It’s the second time that the board has been invited to brief the committee and answer questions related to governance issues.
The previous invitation in September was rejected. The DAA said at the time that it was not in a position to engage at that time “given ongoing matters that have not yet reached a conclusion and the inevitable legal constraints that would impose on DAA attendees”.
Sinn Féin TD Louis O’Hara, a member of the Oireachtas Transport Committee, said on Tuesday that the DAA must give a “full account of the use of director perks and the associated cost to the state-owned company”.
The Irish Independent revealed at the weekend that the DAA is paying any tax liability that arises from tens of thousands of euro of benefit-in-kind services availed of by its directors.
Apart from being paid a total of €205,000 last year, more than a dozen board members also racked up a combined total of €63,858 in benefits related to the use of airport facilities. Those benefits include the use of Dublin Airport’s exclusive Platinum VIP private terminal, where each trip costs hundreds of euro per passenger.
As chair, Mr Geoghegan has received “free of charge” use of the Platinum VIP terminal worth a total of €90,000 since 2018, the Business Post reported last week.
While employees typically pay the tax liability on a benefit-in-kind, companies can pay the tax liability on their behalf in some circumstances, under Revenue Commissioner rules.
Mr O’Hara, who is Sinn Féin’s junior spokesperson for transport, blasted the payments being made by the DAA.
“From thousands of euro spent on VIP airport services for directors, thousands of euro spent on mediation costs and now thousands of euro spent on director tax liabilities – the DAA needs to be held to account for this reckless spending,” he said.
“We need to see transparency from the DAA in relation to the arrangements for director benefits, including full disclosure of these perks, tax arrangements and the cost to the company,” Mr O’Hara added.
The DAA is currently holding elections for four worker-director positions on its board. One worker-director resigned earlier this year, three are up for re-election in a field of nine worker candidates in total.
source