TD criticises 'unacceptable' car allowance for former Daa chief

The former chief executive of Daa, Dalton Philips, had a €117,000 three litre diesel Range Rover SUV provided as part of his contract. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd has questioned the level of allowances paid to executives in the transport, semi-state and commercial semi-state sector.

It follows the revelation that the former chief executive of Daa, Dalton Philips, had a €117,000 three litre diesel Range Rover SUV provided as part of his contract.

It was “unacceptable” that such a large car had been provided “for a person who works in Dublin,” Mr O'Dowd told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

“This car is going nowhere at an enormous cost to the environment and to the State, and it's entirely unacceptable in every respect.” 

It was pointed out that the Daa has responsibility for Cork Airport, as well as Dublin Airport, and therefore the chief executive would travel to Cork.

However, Mr O’Dowd said that the Daa had responsibility for the employment of 3,800 people with turnover of “three quarters of a billion euro per annum” which was “all the more reason for them to be totally in the frontline of climate change and changing how we do business”. 

Clearly the Department of Transport had to “get its house in order”, he said, and all Government departments needed to assess exactly what sorts of vehicles were being purchased with their consent.

“The key point is we need to look at the fine print. It's just not good enough and people will not accept this any longer. There are some State companies which have really stepped up to the mark particularly. Irish Rail, their chief executive is driving an electric car.” 

Mr O’Dowd pointed out that the chief executives of Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann also had electric cars. While electric cars were expensive, he said, and not everyone could afford them, the point was they were reducing their footprint in terms of their vehicle.

The Daa confirmed to Morning Ireland that €117,000 was spent on the Range Rover provided to Mr Philips in 2019. It is now leasing an electric Mercedes for its present CEO, Kenny Jacobs.

In a statement, a spokesperson said the Daa CEO is "provided with a car, within a set cost range, as part of their Board and State approved contract".

"The car made available to the previous CEO was purchased and owned by Daa, with Benefit in Kind paid by Daa on the employee’s behalf and with all and any relevant taxes paid by the employee. The car, bought in 2019, was returned to Daa when the CEO departed in September 2022 and was subsequently sold by the company." 

It's understood that the car Mr Philips was given when he took up the role with Daa had been purchased for the previous CEO in 2017, and was replaced for accounting reasons in 2019.