The bank, whose major shareholder is the State, said free maintenance and transaction fees for current account holders with a minimum balance of €2,500 in each quarter will be withdrawn on May 30.

The job cuts will be made by the end of 2022.

The AIB Ireland Business Activity Report also shows that profitability expectations in Irish companies hit its lowest in over eight years as uncertainty remains around the circumstances of the UK leaving the European Union.

AIB is shedding about 300 jobs, across its group, moving to cut costs as it struggles with a “challenging” interest rate environment.

AIB - which is still more than 70% owned by the State - recieved €3.6bn in offers for the €500m in bonds, or so-called additional tier-1 (AT1) notes, it sold this week.

The bank says it's as a result of a continuous focus on managing costs.

Shares in Clydesdale Bank, the British lender led by former AIB chief executive David Duffy, tumbled more than 20% after it made a fresh £300m-£450m (€335m-€500m) provision to settle mis-selling claims linked to the country’s most expensive consumer banking scandal.

AIB is not expecting to be hit with a fine from the Central Bank over its part in the tracker mortgage scandal until next year at the earliest, but it has put aside €35m for the eventuality.

According to an AIB survey, a net 56% of Irish firms are anticipating higher average staff costs this year, which is well above the global average.

Shares in AIB slipped 1% as the bank said that profits were “solid” in the first three months of the year despite the uncertainties of Brexit.

Philip O’Leary, managing partner of Cork law firm FitzGerald Legal & Advisory, has been appointed as a board member to the Irish Banking Culture Board (IBCB), funded by Ireland’s five main retail banks with the aim of rebuilding trust in the sector.

Farmers are set to protest outside the AIB AGM in Dublin later.

AIB will consider further bad loan sales as it looks to reduce up to €3bn of debt by the end of the year.

The largest mortgage lender in the state is set to cut its fixed mortgage rates.

AIB said it is showing its commitment to its banking operation in the North as it changes the First Trust name back to AIB.

It has been announced that all operations, products and services will rebrand as AIB on a phased basis.

A leading mortgage debt advocate at the Free Legal Advice Centres, Flac, has called for a new focus on the link between the housing crisis and the sale of distressed landlord loans to vulture funds.

AIB is to sell €1bn worth of non-performing loans toto Everyday Finance, an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management.

Dr Colin Hunt has been appointed as the CEO and Executive Director of AIB.

AIB has hinted that it could undertake further loan book sales in a bid to bring the percentage of non-performing loans on its books to within the European average.

The negative impact on Ireland's small business sector from ongoing Brexit uncertainty is rapidly rising with more than a third of SMEs saying they have either cancelled or postponed investment plans.