EDITORIAL : THE INDEPENDENT, IRELAND

 

 

Varadkar must get tough with DAA

The decision by the board of the Dublin Airport Authority to award a "performance-related" bonus of €106,000 to chief executive Declan Collier represents a challenge to the authority of the Government which must not go unanswered. News of the award comes just two days after the Government's decision to cap the pay of semi-state bosses with the pay of any future DAA chief executive being restricted to "only" €219,000 a year.

So what has been the response of Transport Minister Leo Varadkar to this flouting of the cabinet's authority? One would have expected a robust response from Mr Varadkar, who has developed a reputation as something of a bruiser while in opposition. Unfortunately it seems that in government the minister has lost his edge with the DAA board approving the bonus despite a request from the minister not to pay such bonuses.

The decision of the DAA board to approve the bonus clears up one mystery. Last month, DAA chairman David Dilger abruptly resigned. Apart from the usual guff about needing more time to pursue his "broad range of other interests", there was no explanation provided for his decision.

Yesterday's developments almost certainly provide that explanation. It now transpires that Mr Varadkar met Mr Dilger several times and impressed upon the former DAA chairman his view that bonuses should not be paid to senior DAA executives. Now that the DAA board has gone ahead, in clear defiance of the minister's wishes, and approved the payment of a bonus to Mr Collier, what should Mr Varadkar do?

Firstly, he should attach no credence whatsoever to the DAA board's assertion that, because the bonus only becomes payable at the end of Mr Collier's contract, it somehow doesn't breach the minister's instructions. Delaying payment of the bonus is a completely artificial construct designed to breach the spirit if not the letter of the minister's instructions.

And the delayed bonus isn't, literally, even the half of it. When pension top-ups and other goodies are added, Mr Collier's total package amounted to €612,500 last year, up €44,500 on the €568,000 he was paid in 2009. In other words, in 2010 Mr Collier was paid almost three times the suggested upper limit for any new DAA chief executive. The DAA board isn't so much defying the minister as rubbing his nose in it.

Confronted by such defiance, all the minister could say was that he was "very dissatisfied" with what had happened. Not so much a slap on the wrist as a limp wagging of the finger. If he is to be taken seriously, Mr Varadkar is going to have to be a lot tougher than that.

He should immediately demand the resignations of the remaining DAA directors and if they refuse to go, then he should fire them instantly. It's well past time for Mr Varadkar to either put up or shut up.

Government-imposed restrictions and red tape which hinder the competitiveness of all Irish companies, large and small.

Time to cut red tape

Yesterday's announcement from Tesco that it would create more than 500 jobs over the next 12 months, which will see the supermarket giant open four new superstores and seven smaller 'express' stores, is a welcome vote of confidence in the Irish economy.
While the jobs created by Tesco will be at least partially offset by job losses in smaller, independent stores, the announcement is still good news. If a company of Tesco's size and quality still sees opportunities in Ireland then things can't be all that bad.
Inevitably, the Tesco announcement raised the issue of its purchases from Irish suppliers. This issue is something of a hardy annual for politicians of all parties. Speaking at yesterday's announcement, Jobs and Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton urged Tesco to open its shelves to small Irish producers. Maybe Mr Bruton and his cabinet colleagues should practice what they preach.
Expecting a commercially-motivated organisation such as Tesco to buy from small Irish suppliers for purely altruistic reasons is nonsense. If Mr Bruton wants to get Tesco buying more from small Irish suppliers, then he should remove the