New DAA chief avoids turbulence

ONE MORE THING: LAWYER Pádraig Ó Ríordáin safely negotiated the joint Oireachtas committee meeting this week on his appointment as chairman of the Dublin Airport Authority.

There was no mention of a potential conflict for the Arthur Cox partner in relation to the fact the firm is a legal adviser for Aer Lingus, the DAA’s biggest customer.

He neatly sidestepped the thorny issue of the massive deficit in the DAA’s pension fund, which is jointly operated with Aer Lingus and SR Technics on the basis he hasn’t yet read himself into the issue.

And nobody asked how he might seek to deal with Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, a vocal critic of the DAA, who wants the semi-State body abolished.

Ó Ríordáin did throw some light on the selection of a new chief executive, suggesting the Government’s pay cap should be lifted and that it will take up to nine months to fill the role, which is being vacated (probably next month) by London City Airport-bound Declan Collier.

This is a clear signal that Ó Ríordáin intends to hire an external candidate as it would never take that long to simply promote from within.

Interestingly, the recruitment ad which the DAA issued last week, has no closing date.

The salary caps for semi-State bosses are a matter for Government policy, a point acknowledged by Ó Ríordáin in his outing with the Oireachtas committee on Wednesday.

His view is it will be hard to attract a top calibre executive to from abroad for a starting salary of €219,871.

He is probably right. Collier’s predecessor at London City Airport, which is much smaller in size and scale to Dublin, earned £406,000 (€488,000).

Ó Ríordáin argued the DAA is a key strategic asset for the State given its role in providing access for tourism and trade.

His view was that hiring the right person to succeed Collier, whose salary was €308,500, was crucial for the country.

There are, of course, other ways of remunerating executives. But bonus payments are a toxic issue for the Government right now.

Last June, Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar prevailed in a row with the DAA board over the payment of a €106,100 bonus to Collier for 2010.

Lifting the cap on the salary of the new DAA chief would be controversial in the current climate of austerity. It will be an interesting test of Ó Ríordáin’s skills of advocacy.