Aer Rianta unions have reacted angrily to Transport Minister Seamus Brennan's announcement of the full membership of the board for the proposed Dublin Airport Authority.
The Minister also said the Government had approved the drafting of the amending legislation necessary to break up Aer Rianta into three authorities at Dublin, Cork and Shannon.
He said he was confident of having the legislation enacted and the three new bodies set up 'well within' the 12-month time frame decided by the Government in July last year.
SIPTU's national industrial secretary Mick Halpenny said the decision to press ahead with the naming 'undermines the process which unions and the Department are engaged in' on the Aer Rianta issue. He had asked the Minister to hold off on naming the board.
The TEEU's regional secretary Arthur Hall, speaking on RTE radio, said the move was in breach of the spirit of the Minister's commitment to the unions on a partnership approach.
The Minister also said work on 'broad' financial protections for the three airports was continuing, and would be shared with the trade unions.
As previously announced, Jefferson Smurfit CEO Gary McGann will chair the Dublin board, which will comprise 12 members, including four worker directors who will be nominated by the unions.
The other members are: Sir Michael Hodgkinson, former chief executive of the British Airport Authority; former GPA executive Colm Barrington; Marie O'Connor of PwC; Renault Ireland chairman Bill Cullen; former head of AIB internal audit Anthony Spollen; Desmond Cummins of teh SFA; and Special Olympics chief executive Mary Davis.
* Separately, it is expected that SIPTU will serve notice of industrial action at Aer Lingus's operations in Shannon following a ballot in favour last Friday.
