Department may scrap airport boards
Latest accounts filed by Cork Airport Authority (CAA) show chairman of the board, Gerry Walsh, was paid €22,000 in fees last year. The 2009 accounts show he was paid €19,000 in the year.
A spokesperson for Cork Airport said, however, that the remuneration of the CAA chairman is €21,600 which is rounded to €22,000 for accounting purposes.
“Gerry Walsh was appointed chairman in the last quarter of 2008 and an amount was accrued in the 2008 accounts to reflect his remuneration for that year. As the salary of the CAA chairman was reduced, an over-accrual took place in 2008. This was corrected in the 2009 accounts, which made it appear that the chairman’s salary was lower in the year,” she said.
The salary for the chairman has been €21,600 since Mr Walsh was appointed in late 2008 and has not changed during that period, according to the spokesperson.
This news comes as Transport Minister Leo Varadkar is making a decision regarding the future of the boards at the airports.
He said that there would be no point separating the three state airports “only to see one or two of them going bust in a short period”.
The three airports have submitted reports on establishing separate airports under the State Airports Act 2004.
The Government is examining the submissions and is expected to make an announcement on the issue before the end of the year.
Mr Varadkar said there would be no point in appointing boards in Cork and Shannon if separation is not to proceed. The boards at Cork and Shannon airports cost more than €200,000 a year to run.
According to the accounts just filed by the Cork Airport Authority for 2010 the fees for directors on the board totalled €90,000, down from €134,000 in the previous year.
The accounts shows that there was seven people on the board of directors in 2010, including the chairman. In 2009 there were 12 people on the board.
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