Abbey National sheds Irish jobs

Abbey National has announced plans to lay off 53 workers at two of its subsidiaries in Ireland.

The company said 25 of the workers would lose their jobs due to the closure of the Scottish Provident Ireland and Scottish Mutual International offices in Cork, Limerick and Galway.

The other 28 staff would be let go at the two companies' Dublin offices, which currently employ 170 people.

Abbey National also announced that the two subsidiaries would not be taking on any new business from today due to the depressed investment market.