The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, said yesterday "considerable forces" were working to undermine his plans to reform the State airports monopoly, Aer Rianta, writes Arthur Beesley, Political Reporter.
Mr Brennan's admission that significant attempts were being made to block his plan to break up the company came after the second leak within a week to the Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte - the latest in the form of a confidential Government document on Aer Rianta's future.
The Minister's spokesman described the leak as "serious" after Mr Rabbitte read into the Dáil record parts of a Cabinet memorandum, the most confidential class of Government document with a circulation among Ministers, their advisers and senior civil servants.
The disclosure of a classified document increased pressure on Mr Brennan to defend his plans after a report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers leaked last week to Mr Rabbitte predicted Aer Rianta's debt could rise to €400 million after the break-up.
Mr Brennan's spokesman refused to speculate as to who might be behind the efforts to destabilise the plans, saying "the leaking of a confidential Cabinet document is a matter for the Cabinet secretariat to address".
Mr Rabbitte said the memorandum showed the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, had opposed giving the go-ahead to legislation to give effect to the break-up of the company.
The memorandum noted Mr McCreevy said the break-up plans might have to be reviewed, as legal issues and questions about the company's share capital and regulation emerged.
The memorandum, dated October 14th, said: "The Minister for Finance therefore considers that the drafting of heads of a Bill and the introduction of legislation at this stage is premature and, accordingly, is not in agreement with the decision sought. The drafting of legislation should be done when all issues are resolved."
While Mr Brennan's spokesman made no attempt to question the quotation, he insisted Mr McCreevy had "made it clear both inside and outside the Cabinet that he is fully supportive of the restructuring measures".
Mr McCreevy's spokesman declined to comment.
Mr Brennan's spokesman acknowledged, however, that Mr McCreevy had sought "observations" on some outstanding "complex issues" such as capitalisation, the transfer of debts and the terms of employment.
With the latest disclosure coming a year after Mr Brennan faced unsubstantiated allegations that he had left unpaid a bill for cigars and brandy at Aer Rianta, his spokesman said it was "clear that there are considerable forces opposed to the restructuring of Aer Rianta".
He added: "Questions must be asked now about how, inside one week, a document deemed highly commercially sensitive has come out into the public domain, followed today by the even more serious issue of a highly confidential formal Cabinet document apparently being in the possession of Pat Rabbitte."
Labour's press spokesman said the party would not disclose how the document came into the possession of Mr Rabbitte.
But Mr Rabbitte said Mr Brennan had not fully disclosed to the Dáil, the public or Aer Rianta workers the extent of the advice he had received.
Mr Rabbitte said in the Dáil the memorandum showed the public subsidies paid to the airports at Galway, Knock and Kerry would be threatened by the Aer Rianta break-up. The subsidies could be challenged on competition grounds because the Government had ruled out State support for Aer Rianta airports at Cork and Shannon once their debt was transferred to Dublin Airport.
This was rejected by Mr Brennan's spokesman, who said the system of State subsidies on regional air routes was under review in a separate process.