Fingal County Council accused the DAA of “shocking” conduct in a complaint to the Department of Transport about the company’s misfiring campaign earlier this year to lift the 32 million passenger cap at Dublin Airport.
The January complaint from Fingal chief executive AnnMarie Farrelly does not mention DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs by name but it takes issue with the way the State airport operator responded to an adverse planning ruling on its “no build” bid to lift the cap to 36 million.
Saying the DAA had released “two emails to give a false impression about replanning requests” to the local authority, Ms Farrelly made clear her displeasure in a note to the top aviation official in the department.
“All can be refuted with lots of records to show the reality,” Ms Farrelly told Ethna Brogan, assistant secretary in the Department of Transport with responsibility for aviation and emergency planning.
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“Nevertheless something has to change here, it’s absolutely shocking behaviour,” Ms Farrelly said in reference to the DAA. “I would welcome the opportunity to discuss.”
Her email came after Fingal ruled the DAA’s application to raise the cap to 36 million passengers was invalid, prompting a furious response from Mr Jacobs, who accused planners of inconsistency.
Ms Farrelly included in her email to Ms Brogan a message from the Fingal communications chief Gerry McDermott to the DAA, in which he complained that the airport group had released a “covering email from a junior staff member” in the council.
“It may be the DAA’s objective to have Dublin Airport classified as strategic national infrastructure but that’s not how it is right now and publicly lampooning the council and its staff to support the argument doesn’t help foster good relations,” Mr McDermott said.
Mr Jacobs had said earlier that Fingal was “wrong” to suggest DAA had not discussed the “no-build” application with the local authority: “DAA engages extensively with [Fingal] on all planning matters and had more than 30 meetings with them last year,” Mr Jacobs said.
However, Ms Farrelly wrote a second email to Ms Brogan enclosing the “agreed minutes” of a December 5th, 2024, meeting with DAA, a fortnight before it lodged the disputed application.
The minutes said an interim application to uplift passenger capacity was discussed: “It was noted that pre-planning has not taken place and the application detail is still outstanding.”
Fingal released the files under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act after a request from The Irish Times that was prompted by claims of poor relations between the local authority and the DAA under Mr Jacobs’ tenure.
The DAA had no comment on the Fingal records.
The county council is pivotal for the DAA given its planning role in relation to Dublin Airport, which is struggling to advance plans to lift the cap and expand its infrastructure.
Mr Jacobs remains in his post despite a September mediation deal with the DAA board in which he agreed to a near €1 million pay-off to leave the State-owned business three years into his seven-year term. Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien has blocked the agreement, leading to a standoff with the DAA board over Mr Jacobs’ future.
DAA directors resolved in the summer that Mr Jacobs was unsuitable for the post after new issues emerged while a senior barrister was investigating two formal complaints against him. They reached that conclusion even though the formal complaints were not upheld.
The DAA board holds a regular scheduled meeting on Friday but it remains unclear if the impasse with the Minister is on the agenda.
Fingal also disclosed the existence of further correspondence with the department and senior Government figures on DAA planning matters but didn’t release it.
FOI access was refused to correspondence between Ms Farrelly and the department on January 21st and her correspondence that day with the office of then tánaiste Micheál Martin. Access was also refused to correspondence with Ms Brogan on June 25th and July 25th this year.
