daa, the operator of Dublin and Cork airports has described claims by Ryanair that the company had breached EU regulation by awarding a contract without a tender as "baffling" and "false".
Ryanair had claimed that daa awarded a €33m PRM (Person with Reduced Mobility) service contract "without a tender or consulting airlines".
"daa have not been able to produce a single alternative quote before awarding this lucrative three-year contract to the existing supplier (OCS)," the airline said in a statement.
Ryanair said this is despite what it called a "significant" increase in price over the last two years.
In response, daa said the airline's claims are false.
"daa is in full compliance with all EU procurement legislation," it said in a statement.
It said OCS is moving into years six and seven of their contract, with an additional one-year extension made to allow for commercial losses incurred during the Covid-19 pandemic.
daa said this is a common approach which it has taken across multiple contracts.
"The Persons with Reduced Mobility (PRM) service contract at Dublin Airport was awarded in 2018 and started in 2019 for a period of seven years (an initial five years, with the option of a two-year extension) following a robust procurement process which was advertised openly through eTenders," the daa statement said.
