It has been in liquidation since February 6th and plans to make its entire workforce redundant in about four months time but Irish Bank Resolution Corporation is actually planning to recruit a handful of new staff in the near future.
The Irish Times has learned that four staff will be hired on short-term contracts to fill positions dealing with IBRC's residential loans, which mostly relate to the former Irish Nationwide Building Society.
It is understood these roles were vacant at the time the liquidation was announced by the Government and are viewed as specialist positions that need to be back-filled so the business can continue to function properly as it moves towards its final winding-up.
Staff exodus
Since the liquidation began, 62 staff have left IBRC to pursue other careers across a range of divisions, including asset recovery, general administration, IT, legal and finance.
According to sources, 33 staff have left the bank in the Republic and 29 in Northern Ireland and London. IBRC had about 1,000 directly employed staff at the time of the liquidation announcement, with about 800 in Ireland.
Statutory pay
In February, IBRC staff were told they would be made redundant and offered statutory terms regardless of tenure.
A group of senior executives, including Mike Aynsley, were let go with immediate effect. Since the liquidation was announced, the Irish Bank Officials' Association has been lobbying on behalf of its members at IBRC for at least some staff to be transferred to the National Asset Management Agency, which is set to receive residuals loans the special liquidators have not offloaded.
The union is seeking improved terms for staff not retained. Nama is setting up a special vehicle to work through the residual loans that IBRC’s special liquidators at KPMG are not able to shift from a book worth about €16 billion.
The handover is due to take place by end of August.
Nama has appointed Capita Asset Services to manage these assets and IBRC staff have been told there will be opportunities when this structure is put in place. Meanwhile, the liquidators plan to value the loans before offering them for sale to the market. Those loans not sold will then be transferred to Nama.
