Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien refused to sanction a payoff of close to €1 million for former airport chief Kenny Jacobs over concerns for the precedent it could set.
Correspondence released by the Department of Transport shows that on November 14th, 2025, O’Brien formally refused a request sent by airport operator DAA to his secretary general in mid-September. The request involved approving a settlement deal from a mediation process involving the company and Jacobs.
The Irish Times reported on September 13th that Jacobs would receive nearly €1 million under proposals set out as part of a mediation process. This would see him leave the chief executive role at DAA, which runs Dublin and Cork airports.
The mediation process came on foot of a significant rift between the board and Jacobs. Although the deal was agreed by the board of DAA, it had to be authorised by both O’Brien and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers.
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“I confirm that I do not approve the mediated settlement,” the Minister told DAA chairman Basil Geoghegan in a letter marked confidential on November 14th.
Firstly, O’Brien said, the amount involved – understood to be about €968,000 – was “very substantial”.
He went on to signal concerns “the precedent my approval would set in circumstances where boards and executives of State companies clash”.
The Minister added: “It cannot be the case that grievances which arise between State companies and their senior management give rise to such generous settlements, with the costs being borne by bodies owned by the State and ultimately the citizen.”
O’Brien said he had “full confidence in the board’s capacity to address these matters fairly and appropriately in the best interests of the company”.
The Department of Transport revealed there had been emails from Jacobs to O’Brien in October and December last year, but these were not released. Some of the emails appear to be copies of correspondence sent by Jacobs to the DAA board.
On December 4th, O’Brien told Jacobs in a letter: “It is a matter for the board to address with you the substance of the issues raised in your correspondence.”
Jacobs was suspended by DAA as chief executive shortly before Christmas and subsequently initiated legal proceedings against the company in the High Court. As part of a deal reached in February to end the litigation, Jacobs was to receive a sum reported to be in the region of €480,000 from DAA after standing down as chief executive.
The payment represented about half the €968,000 he stood to receive under the original mediation deal agreed with the DAA board last September, which was vetoed by O’Brien.
The Minister said in a statement following the agreement at the High Court in February: “The board was aware of my dissatisfaction with the conciliated quantum and I understand today’s settlement quantum is considerably less.”
The settlement at the High Court did not include Jacobs’s legal costs, which were expected to be paid separately by the airport operator. The total legal costs incurred by both sides in the dispute are understood to be in excess of €1 million.
