Airport operator daa Chief Executive Kenny Jacobs has said the matter of his reported suspension from his position is now “with his lawyers”.<\/p>\n
In his first comments since staff at the operator were told in an email yesterday that he is to “take some time out of the business<\/a>“, Mr Jacobs said the “matter is with my lawyers”, and that he “can’t say more than that at this stage”.<\/p>\n It follows months of wrangling between Mr Jacobs and the board of directors.<\/p>\n Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien earlier refused to be drawn on whether Mr Jacobs has been suspended from his position.<\/p>\n The Irish Times reported yesterday evening that Mr Jacobs has been suspended on full pay pending an investigation.<\/p>\n In mid-September, an exit package had been agreed between Mr Jacobs and daa. However, the package was not signed-off by Mr O’Brien and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers.<\/p>\n We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n Asked about the reported suspension on RT\u00c9’s Morning Ireland, Mr O’Brien said: “I’m not the employer, I’m the shareholder [of the company]. My understanding is as per the daa statement yesterday evening. I don’t manage the airport, Dublin and Cork airport are still performing very well.”<\/p>\n Mr O’Brien said he would like to see the matter between the daa executive and the board “resolved one way or the other and I think this is part of that process in working towards a resolution to it”.<\/p>\n “But, I don’t micro-manage the airport, I’m not the employer.<\/p>\n “I have made it clear myself that of my position with regard to sanction of exit packages.<\/p>\n “But I don’t want to say too much on this,” he added.<\/p>\n The minister said “it’s a sensitive issue that’s happening at the moment, work is under way within the board and the executive, I know as well this is part of the process”.<\/p>\n “So, I think additional public commentary on this might not be helpful, and I do want to see it resolved, and I note the statement that is there and I am not going to say anything further on it at this stage.”<\/p>\n Asked if he will reconsider his previous refusal to sign-off a payout for Mr Jacobs as CEO of daa, Mr O’Brien replied: “No.”<\/p>\n He said he would like Ireland’s State companies to be “run and managed well, which this one [daa] has been and has performed well, so I have very particular reasons why I’ve taken this decision, which I think is the correct one.<\/p>\n “But having said that, that’s not the issue.<\/p>\n “The issue is not a payout, the issue is how we can ensure that the airport – Dublin and Cork – continue to operate successfully and profitably and continue to grow,” he said.<\/p>\n