IBRC planning 40 redundancies in North and UK

The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation is proposing to make 40 of its employees in Northern Ireland and the UK redundant in August.

The workers are engaged in managing former IBRC assets which are now owned by the Republic's National Asset Management Agency (Nama).

With the wind-down of IBRC, it has been decided that these assets are to be managed by business outsourcing specialists Capita.

The special liquidators of IBRC , Kieran Wallace and Eamonn Richardson of KPMG, announced that they intend to begin consultations with IBRC employees in London and Belfast working on the Nama loan book and their representatives under the relevant employee regulations.

Consultations
These consultations are taking place in anticipation of the transfer of the servicing of the Nama loan book within IBRC to an appointed loan service provider, Capita Asset Services, within coming months.

The Nama loan book in question is believed to be worth almost €1 billion.

Larry Broderick, general secretary of IBOA, the Irish finance union, said many of the employees set to be made redundant were on salaries of between €20,000-€25,000 per year.

Many of the staff in Northern Ireland are former Irish Nationwide employees, while the UK staff are former employees of Anglo Irish Bank.

“While the decision to transfer the management of these assets to Capita is no real surprise under the circumstances, we are shocked and disappointed that no commitment has been made to implement legislation covering the rights of workers on the transfer of business,” said Mr Broderick.

He said the union committee would meet next week, and if the State does not intervene it would consider steps including industrial action.

“It appears that, once the redundancies have taken place, Capita intends to hand-pick the staff they want to employ.

"The rest of the workers will be left to face compulsory redundancy on inferior terms than were previously agreed with the Republic's Government as recently as 18 months ago.

Terms and conditions
"For those who are selected for employment with Capita there is as yet no confirmation that their IBRC terms and conditions of employment will be protected. We are seeking clarification on all of these issues from both IBRC and Capita."

A spokesperson for the special liquidators said they were committed to ensuring that due process was adhered to and that proper consultation was undertaken with the affected employees.