Labour: Government slept while bank mulled pullout

THE Government was “asleep” when Bank of Scotland (Ireland) was considering closing branches with the loss of 750 jobs, the Dáil heard on what was described as “a bad day” for the country.

The Labour Party said it was “incredible” that the Government only found out about the job losses hours before the bank made the announcement on Tuesday.

Fine Gael said there could be thousands of more job losses in the sector “based on allegations now in circulation” if more international banks pull out of Ireland.