Sinn Féin spokesperson on Finance Pearse Doherty TD has called on the management of AIB to postpone plans to cut 1,500 jobs by 2023, after the bank announced yesterday that it was moving forward with job cuts despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking this morning, Teachta Doherty said:

“Yesterday’s announcement by AIB to move ahead with 1,500 job cuts was ill-judged and premature in the teeth of this pandemic.

“In March, the bank postponed these plans because of Covid-19. We are still living with the virus, and its impact on jobs and livelihoods will be with us for some time.

“To move ahead with this job-cutting exercise amid record levels of unemployment is a mistake.

“At the same time as AIB plans to cut 1,500 jobs, it is reported that they are in talks to acquire Goodbody Stockbrokers for more than €100 million.

“This comes ten years after the bank sold Goodbody for a knockdown price of €24 million after being bailed out by the taxpayer at a cost of €20.8 billion.

“I am also aware that this announcement has been made without any meaningful engagement between bank management and the Financial Services Union.

“Failure to engage with union representatives when jobs are on the line is not an appropriate way to proceed, especially for a bank in which the State is a majority-shareholder.

“I have written to the CEO of AIB urging him to engage with the FSU at the earliest opportunity.”