Brian McHugh, chair of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) says he is not opposed to at the former Quickpark at Dublin Airport reopening for the busy summer months, even with the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) as the operator.
The CCPC had stopped the DAA from purchasing the car park with 6,100 spaces from developer Gerry Gannon for around €70m, as it would have given the DAA ownership of 90pc of all airport car park spaces, potentially leading to increased prices or reduced service quality.
While the purchase was blocked, the CCPC is open to the possibility of a short-term lease for the car park, with multiple parties interested in either buying or leasing the space.
The CCPC has released a report detailing its decision, noting evidence of intense competition if an operator other than the DAA were to run the car park, and confirming that several parties are still interested in acquiring the site.
Mr McHugh said “iIf the car park could open tomorrow, we would be very keen to assist as much as we could, in terms of facilitating that. With the DAA, it is possible they could enter into a short-term lease and there would not be a competition issue – but it would depend on the detail and the circumstances of the arrangements and of the contract they would enter into. We couldn’t sign off on that contract without having a look at it and seeing if there were any competition issues.”
