Charlie McCreevy has been given an effective veto over the final break-up of Aer Rianta, writes Arthur Beesley, Political Reporter
Mr Séamus Brennan has been gunning to break up the Aer Rianta and CIÉ monopolies since he became Minister for Transport. Two years into the job, he has spent an enormous amount of political capital on both initiatives but achieved few tangible results.
The Minister has now produced legislation to break up the three Aer Rianta airports at Dublin, Cork and Shannon. He had planned to achieve the break-up in one sweeping manoeuvre but this will now be done in stages, following a compromise with unions at the pay talks last week.
Ironically, the first phase of the process will deliver a new structure for the State airports that will look a lot like CIÉ. With unions still set against the break-up, the question now is whether the process will go further than the first phase.
The State Airports Bill will empower Mr Brennan to stand down the Aer Rianta board at any time and transfer the company's assets to the new Dublin Airport Authority. In essence, this phase of the plan will replace one Government-appointed board with another.
As such, the process is likely to prompt an immediate confrontation with the old Aer Rianta board and its chairman, Mr Noel Hanlon, which signed off on a ten-year business plan for the group only last week.
Despite Mr Brennan's public commitment last July to achieve the break-up within a year, the Aer Rianta board's business plan is predicated on the retention of the three-airport structure.
If this appears like an affront to Mr Brennan, the board says it was never consulted by the Minister during the preparation of the legislation. Amid unsubstantiated speculation that the board may go to the courts to block Mr Brennan's plan, the directors will meet today to decide their next move.
While two new authorities will not immediately take ownership of the airport assets in Cork and Shannon, the legislation empowers them to enter into arrangements with Dublin Airport for the transfer of certain unspecified day-to-day functions.
Mr Brennan can cite this aspect of the plan to say that the process of breaking up the airports can begin once the legislation clears the Dáil next month.
However, Cork and Shannon cannot take ownership of the assets until they produce business plans which are to the satisfaction of Mr Brennan and the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy. According to the legislation, this cannot happen until next May at the earliest.
After the Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, produced a leaked Government memo on the floor of the Dáil, it has been known for months that Mr McCreevy sought last October to block the drawing up of legislation to bring about the break-up.
Now that he has been given what amounts to a effective veto over the final break-up indicates that he has yet to see a business plan which demonstrates that the break-up makes sense.
Given the plethora of financial reports making dire assessments of the break-up plan, pleasing Mr McCreevy will be difficult. Though never a friend of the trade union movement, Mr McCreevy's position gives succour to the airport unions.
With a battle still to fight over the airports, it will be all the more difficult for Mr Brennan to drive through the break-up of CIÉ.