Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which owns Ulster Bank, has confirmed today that it is to cut 221 jobs on the island of Ireland as part of a major restructuring programme announced last year.
The bank met with 196 technology services staff in its Dublin office and 25 in Belfast earlier today to inform them that they are to be laid off.
RBS said some roles will be transferred to locations where the bank has key back office hubs in the UK and elsewhere.
The bank said it ihopes that the number of compulsory redundancies will be minimal.
Last August, Ulster Bank announced plans to cut 250 jobs after making a loss of about £500 million (€585 million) in the first half of the year.
This was in addition to the 750 job cuts announced at the beginning of 2009 with the closure of First Active and its merger with Ulster Bank.
The Irish Bank Officials’ Association (IBOA) said staff working at RBS' Irish IT divisions were shocked and angered by the company's plans to close its operations here.
Following a meeting with staff this afternoon, IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick said he has asked RBS to review its position and to engage with the union in looking at retaining the positions.
“While IBOA acknowledges management’s commitment to negotiate with the union about these job losses on a voluntary basis, it is clear that unless RBS provides alternative IT job opportunities in Ireland, these redundancies will to all intents and purposes be compulsory,” he said.
“Furthermore, since RBS received substantial incentives to set up its operations in Ireland, it is not acceptable that they can just walk away and abandon these highly skilled and committed staff – who have performed to a consistently high level.
