Transport Minister Seamus Brennan has told the chairman of Aer Rianta, Noel Hanlon, that he will be finalising details of the new boards to manage the autonomous authorities at Cork, Shannon and Dublin in the coming days.
In a letter delivered to the chairman yesterday evening, the Minister confirms formally that the Government has decided to proceed with the establishment of the three authorities 12 months from now.
He also confirms that those authorities will remain under continuing state ownership. The Minister's letter says that this will require an immediate restructuring of the Aer Rianta board.
Mr Brennan wants the three chairpersons and three deputy chairpersons designate of the new authorities to join the interim Aer Rianta board pending full implementation of the plan in a years time. But there is no clear statement of the implications of this for existing board members.
As the number of board seats is limited to nine, it is unclear how the current board members could be retained if the regional chairpersons and deputy chairpersons were appointed to the Aer Rianta board.
A statement issued by the board after its meeting this morning made no reference to the future of the current board in light of the proposed new arrangements.
The letter also confirms the transfer of all debt from Cork and Shannon to Dublin. It reiterates the Government position that the new airports will not receive any Exchequer support.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport said that he expected that the new boards at Cork Shannon and Dublin would be named by Friday at the latest.
Earlier, a meeting of the Aer Rianta board took place. In a statement, the board said that many complex issues and concerns had been raised by the worker directors. It said those issues would be raised by the company with the Transport Minister as soon as possible.
The board also noted the Government statement that full discussions on the proposals would continue over the next 12 months. In the statement, the board also said it would continue to implement Government policy as it emerged.
