Aer Rianta will have to pay the fees of directors appointed to new designate boards for Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports for several months, it has emerged.
The Department of Transport has set a fee of €10,157 per annum for ordinary directors , with remuneration for the chairmen of the three boards set at €15,236.
Until legislation is passed setting up the three new boards, Aer Rianta will be responsible for paying the 36 people involved, the Department confirmed last night. Once the legislation is in place, the airport authorities will take over this responsibility.
It is likely to take up to six months before the new boards are established. The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, is preparing to appoint advisers on the complex issues involved in the break-up of the State airports authority. The changes will be included in the new State Airports Bill 2003.
The chairman of Aer Rianta, Mr Noel Hanlon, has bitterly opposed the break-up plans on several grounds. However, the company declined to comment last night on the additional costs it will have to bear.
Mr Brennan has already named the members of the designate board for Shannon. In the next few weeks, board members for Cork and Dublin will be announced. The designate boards will work closely with the main Aer Rianta board on issues related to the break-up.
Mr Brennan announced the chairmen of the three designate boards in late July. Mr Gary McGann, chief executive of the Jefferson Smurfit Group, is to lead the Dublin airport designate board; Mr Patrick Shanahan, chief executive of the Atlantic Technology Corridor, will chair the Shannon board; and Mr Joe Gantly, managing director of Apple Computers in Europe, will take the helm of the Cork board.
Mr Brennan wants to appoint four worker directors to each board, but this has run into difficulties because of the union's opposition to the break-up.
