TSB workers to pocket €80,000 each in tax-free windfall

UP to 1,000 TSB bank staff will pocket a tax-free windfall of over €80,000 each following a share deal agreed prior to the merger of the company with Irish Life and Permanent.

Under the deal signed before the company's merger in April 2001, former Trustee Savings Bank employees will enjoy a yearly cash bonanza of €12,700, tax free, for at least the next six years. Details of the windfall were sent to staff in the past fortnight.

More than 1,300 former Irish Permanent staff received a one-off taxable payment of just €12,700 in a separate deal three years ago.