DAVID DILGER invested €500,000 of his pension fund in loan notes issued by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) almost a year before he became chairman of the State-owned company on May 22nd, 2009.

This emerges in the DAA’s 2009 annual report, which was published last week.

The loan notes were issued in July 2008 by DAA Finance plc, a subsidiary of the airport manager.

It sold a fixed-rate €600 million Eurobond, which is due for repayment on July 9th, 2018. The bonds are guaranteed by the DAA and carry a coupon – or interest rate – of 6.5872 per cent.

This would generate an annual interest payment of €32,936 for Mr Dilger.

The loan notes have been used to help the DAA finance a €1.2 billion upgrade of facilities and infrastructure at Dublin airport, including the new Terminal 2, which is set to open in November.

Mr Dilger is a former chief executive of Greencore, an Irish-listed food group. He received a €13.5 million lump sum from Greencore for his personal pension fund in 2008 when he stepped down from the business.

When contacted by The Irish Times about this investment, the DAA said: “David Dilger has a personal interest in €500,000 worth of Dublin Airport Authority loan notes repayable in 2018.

“The bonds in question are listed on the Irish Stock Exchange, and Mr Dilger’s investment pre-dated his appointment as chairman of the company in May 2009.

“Mr Dilger informed the DAA board of this investment at his first board meeting as chairman, and details of the investment are set out in the directors’ interests section of the company’s most recent annual report.”

The DAA’s annual report showed that the airport manager’s net debt stood at €616 million at the end of 2009, more than three times the €188 million of the previous year.

This rise was fuelled by the construction of Terminal 2, which is costing more than €600 million to construct.

DAA chief executive Declan Collier said debt would rise to more than €800 million by the end of this year and close to €1 billion over the next couple of years.