The Department of Transport has said it cannot release a report on the break-up of Aer Rianta because the information contained in it is "commercially sensitive".
However, the Department intends to brief unions fully on the document tomorrow, although, because of its contents, actual copies are unlikely to be circulated. The Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, claimed yesterday the report suggests Cork and Shannon airports would not be viable on their own.
A Department spokesman said Aer Rianta itself has asked the Department not to release the report because of its sensitivity. He said it was not a full consultant's report, but a piece of work done by one individual in PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).
It has also emerged that PWC is to be appointed as consultant on the actual break-up by Mr Brennan. The break-up will take place next year and PWC will be advising the Minister on technical, legal and financial issues.
The break-up of Aer Rianta into three separate airport bodies has proved hugely controversial, with unions warning that jobs could be lost. The Department spokesman, however, said when considering the restructuring of Aer Rianta, the Department asked Aer Rianta to generate forecasts and projections for Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports up to 2006.
The Department asked one person in PWC to analyse projections. "It was regarded as a small piece of work and not a full consultant's report," he said.
It was obvious from analysing this work, he said, that, unless the debt associated with Cork and Shannon was removed, the three airports would not be viable going forward. Consequently, he said, a decision was taken to remove all debt off the balance sheets of Cork and Shannon and transfer it to Dublin.