Talks between unions and the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, on his planned break-up of Aer Rianta are to begin later this week, following discussions yesterday involving the Taoiseach.
Mr Ahern left guests at a function in Government Buildings waiting for an hour as he and Mr Brennan held talks with leaders of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. In what sources described as a "frank exchange", the ICTU delegation spelt out their unhappiness at the manner in which the Aer Rianta break-up was announced by Mr Brennan last Thursday.
They queried whether unions could expect to be similarly excluded from decisions on a possible second terminal at Dublin Airport, as well as the futures of state companies such as CIÉ, the ESB and the VHI.
Mr Brennan responded with grievances of his own about the manner in which he has been portrayed by some on the union side.
He also emphatically rejected any suggestion that he was operating to an agenda of private sector interests, stressing that his sole aim was to improve services for the travelling public.
A 10-point plan for the future of Aer Rianta produced by SIPTU, which represents a majority of the company's 2,800 staff, is likely to form the basis of discussions with the Minister. The plan calls for a "publicly transparent review" of Mr Brennan's decision to break up the company. While he is willing to discuss the plan, Mr Brennan gave no indication that he is prepared to review a decision already made. One way talks might proceed would be for both sides to recognise their fundamental differences, and move on to negotiate how the pay and conditions of staff would be secured under any new regime.
Unions are likely to seek legislative guarantees that nobody's pay, job security or pension rights would be detrimentally affected by any change in the airports' management structure.
Mr Ahern, speaking after the meeting, said he understood workers had concerns about the status of their jobs. The Government had no desire other than to work in partnership with the unions to deal with these issues "in a proper way".
Mr David Begg, general secretary of ICTU, which requested yesterday's meeting, said the objective had been to "try to get matters back on track again".
"I think it's clear to everybody that the events of last weekend caused a fissure between the Government side and ourselves."
ICTU vice-president, Mr Peter McLoone, of IMPACT, SIPTU leaders Mr Des Geraghty and Mr Jack O'Connor, and ICTU official Mr Liam Berney also attended the meeting.
Mr Ahern had been due to launch a consultation paper on the workplace of the future, drawn up by the National Centre for Partnership and Performance (NCCP), at 3 p.m.
His talks with the union delegation began in Government Buildings at around that time, while guests at the NCCP event, including employer body representatives, waited downstairs.
Aer Rianta was discussed by the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, yesterday with the EU Commissioner for Transport, Ms Loyola de Palacio. He said the commissioner told him that she had not received details of the proposed break-up. "Consequently, the Commission has not yet determined whether the proposed transfer of debt from Shannon and Cork Airports to Dublin is in compliance with EU state aid and competition rules."
