Bank of Ireland says it is strongly committed to market leading pensions for all employees as it expresses dismay at industrial action by Amicus

Bank of Ireland this evening said it was dismayed at the decision of the Amicus trade union to go ahead with industrial action tomorrow after day-long talks at the Labour Relations Commission failed to make progress on the dispute over the Bank's pension scheme for new employees introduced on 1st October.

A spokesman for the Bank said "This action by Amicus is all the more regrettable as the Bank believes it is possible to make progress on the particular issues raised by the union. This dispute can be resolved by dialogue not by industrial action and we again appeal to Amicus to engage in constructive discussions in the interests of the employees they represent."

Amicus represents over 300 employees out of 16,000 staff in Bank of Ireland.

The Bank again emphasised that it was committed to providing market leading pensions for all of its employees saying:

"For 16,000 Bank of Ireland employees there is no change to their pension arrangements.

New employees since 1st October are benefiting from an attractive new scheme that is demonstrably better than our main competitors in the Irish market, all of whom operate defined contribution schemes.

The new Bank of Ireland scheme is progressive and has the potential to realise the same benefits for employees on retirement as the current scheme."

Bank of Ireland concluded by saying that "this is not a cost saving issue - it is about securing the future pension arrangements for all employees"

About 200 staff in the Bank of Ireland Life business are involved in the industrial action. Disruption to customers should be minimal and there will be no impact on the Bank's branch network.