Ryanair wanted lobbying kept secret

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary spent six months trying to have the Department of Finance sanctioned for revealing his attempt to lobby the Government over a key tax policy he believed should have been kept secret.

Documents seen by the Irish Examiner show Mr O’Leary and his company repeatedly warned that the lobbying attempt should not be made public and should have been censored out of Freedom of Information (FOI) act responses.

In late February, a Sunday newspaper reported that Mr O’Leary and Ryanair lobbied Finance Minister Michael Noonan to prevent airport passenger charge increases by the Dublin Airport Authority.