Bank seeks 20 job cuts in life division

Bank of Ireland is understood to be seeking around 20 redundancies from its life assurance vehicle as part of its ongoing group-wide cost cutting and restructuring drive.

The Bank of Ireland Life business, which has its headquarters on Dublin’s Nassau St, employs about 175 people.

Two years ago, the bank’s management said it was seeking 750 redundancies across the group, but more recently admitted the overall figure would be north of that.

Approximately half of the initial 750 target has already been reached and Bank of Ireland’s workforce declined by around 3,700 people between early 2008 and the end of last year.

The bank workers’ union IBOA recently stated concern that another 600 jobs could be lost at Bank of Ireland. This followed the union reaching agreement on redundancy terms for the original wave of reported job cuts at the bank.

Bank of Ireland was not commenting on the life division cuts yesterday.

However, the bank has previously stated it will continue to make “operational efficiencies” aimed at meeting its restructuring and funding targets. It has also said that “a range of business change initiatives” are under review in each of its jurisdictions (the Republic, the North, and Britain).

“As plans are finalised, details will be communicated, with consultation taking place in the first instance with staff employed in those units and with employee representatives where relevant,” chief executive Richie Boucher said earlier this year.

Bank of Ireland has said, however, that any job losses will not lead to the closure of any of its retail branches. The bank has 250 branches in the Republic and anticipates keeping that number for the foreseeable future.

Management has said it considers the branch network to be an extremely important part of its business strategy, with a presence in local communities being “vitally important” and closure decisions only arrived at after “considerable debate” and analysis.