Former Aer Rianta chairman Mr Noel Hanlon is to pay for four €9,000 gold watches presented to selected Aer Rianta board colleagues last week, and is handing back the watch he received himself, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent.
In a brief statement last night, Mr Hanlon defended his decision to present Cartier watches, paid for by Aer Rianta, to three serving directors, including himself, and two former directors.
"I wish to state that I consider that the gifts to four former directors was wholly appropriate in recognition of the enormous amount of time-consuming work they undertook in recent years.
"However, in light of the controversy which these gifts have created, and to bring an end to the publicity which has ensued I have decided to return my watch and to personally pay for the other four," he said.
Besides Mr Hanlon, the directors selected to receive watches were ex-GPA executive Mr Liam Meade, Cork businesswoman Ms Freda Hayes, ESB chairman Mr Tadhg O'Donoghue, and former CIÉ chairman Mr Dermot O'Leary.
The latter two men both resigned from Aer Rianta in June 2003.
Before Mr Hanlon's announcement it was understood from reliable political sources that Mr O'Donoghue, concerned about the controversy, intended to hand back his watch.
The decision to award a parting gift to three selected directors and two former directors was properly approved by Aer Rianta's board, The Irish Times has learnt.
The Cartier watches were bought for €9,000 each directly from the watch company. They would have cost far more if bought in a shop, sources told The Irish Times.
In the Dáil yesterday, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern said he did not believe it to be "appropriate" that directors of State companies should receive gifts of this size.
Facing questions from Green Party TD Mr Dan Boyle, the Taoiseach said TDs could not accept such gifts because they would breach ethics legislation.
"If I, as I do in my position, receive a gift to the value of more than €600, I must give it up. All of us in this House work hard and none of us could receive such a gift. Quite frankly I do not believe it is appropriate," Mr Ahern said.
The newly appointed Minister for Transport, Mr Cullen, said he expected Aer Rianta's successor, the Dublin Airports Authority, to follow "the highest standards of corporate governance".
However, his Department and the new airports authority are keen to bring the controversy to an end: "We want to focus on the future of the airport," said Mr Cullen's spokesman.
Fine Gael TD Mr Denis Naughten supported calls to expand the scope of ethics legislation to cover the directors of State companies.
Earlier, refusing to give back the watch he received, one of the ex-directors, Mr Meade, insisted that the presentation was entirely proper given the workload of Aer Rianta directors.