{"id":208960,"date":"2025-12-24T18:08:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T18:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/208960\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T18:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T18:08:12","slug":"kenny-jacobs-confirms-he-has-referred-suspension-by-daa-to-his-lawyers-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/208960\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenny Jacobs confirms he has referred suspension by DAA to his lawyers \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAA<\/a> chief executive Kenny Jacobs<\/a> has referred his suspension by the airports authority to his solicitors, he confirmed on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

Late on Tuesday, it emerged that Mr Jacobs had been suspended on full pay<\/a>, setting in motion a new investigation into his conduct after months of turmoil in the State airports group.<\/p>\n

Questioned on Wednesday\u2019s Morning Ireland, Minister for Transport Darragh O\u2019Brien<\/a> said he wanted to see a resolution to the situation but that he would not reconsider his refusal to sign off on a planned \u20ac1 million exit package for Mr Jacobs following news he will be taking \u201csome time out of the business\u201d.<\/p>\n

The development follows prolonged disruption after new issues emerged when a barrister, Mark Connaughton SC, was investigating two formal complaints against Mr Jacobs in the spring and summer.<\/p>\n

Although Mr Connaughton did not uphold the original complaints, the new issues prompted board anxiety about Mr Jacobs\u2019s role as chief executive and ultimately led directors to conclude he was unsuitable for the role.<\/p>\n

An exit package had been agreed between the DAA and Mr Jacobs in mid-September, which would have seen him leave the role in January.<\/p>\n

However, Mr O\u2019Brien refused to approve the deal, saying instead that the board and Mr Jacobs should pursue reconciliation.<\/p>\n

In a note emailed to staff at 9pm on Tuesday, DAA chief people officer Siobh\u00e1n Griffin said: \u201cThe board has asked me to share with you today that our CEO will take some time out of the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking on RT\u00c9, Mr O\u2019Brien said it was a \u201cmatter between the executive and the board\u201d and he\u2019d like to \u201csee it resolved one way or the other\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a sensitive issue that\u2019s happening at the moment. Work is under way within the board and the executive I know as well this is part of the process, so I think additional public commentary on this might not be helpful, and I do want to see it resolved,\u201d he told RT\u00c9 Radio 1\u2019s Morning Ireland.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Brien said he would not reconsider approving the exit deal, adding that it\u2019s \u201cnot about the cost\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Area 14: Dublin Airport\u2019s ghost underground stationOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a principle as well. I\u2019d rather see our State companies run and managed well, which this one has been and has performed well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I have very particular reasons why I\u2019ve taken this decision, which I think is the correct one. But having said that, that\u2019s not the issue. The issue is not a payout, the issue is how we can ensure that Dublin and Cork [airports] continue to operate successfully and properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The suspension followed a DAA board meeting on Monday, at which Mr Jacobs made a submission challenging the board.<\/p>\n

One figure familiar with that encounter described \u201crobust\u201d engagements with Mr Jacobs and his legal representative.<\/p>\n

The board went on to consider Mr Jacobs\u2019s submission but there was no breakthrough to end the rift.<\/p>\n

Contacted for comment on Thursday, Mr Jacobs issued a brief statement in which he confirmed the matter was \u201cwith my lawyers and I won\u2019t be commenting further\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs has referred his suspension by the airports authority to his solicitors, he confirmed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,10725,15910,61,60,12844],"class_list":{"0":"post-208960","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-daa","10":"tag-darragh-o-brien","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-kenny-jacobs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}