National Irish Bank (NIB) today announced plans to restructure its branch network over the next 18 months, entailing 150 voluntary staff redundancies.

The bank is owned by the Danish bank Danske.

• 25 of the bank’s 58 branches will be closed and merged into neighbouring branches.
• Staff numbers will fall by 150 through a voluntary severance scheme. Two-thirds of reductions will come from the branch network and the remainder from across the bank.

Last August, National Irish Bank reported a pre-tax loss of €341m for the first half of 2009 after setting aside €379m for bad debts. Parent, Denmark's Danske Bank Group also announced profit before impairment charges was up 90% to €2.3bn. Net profit was down 88% to €100m.

NIB said its operating profit before impairment charges rose by 34% to €38m. Income for the six month period rose by 6% to €101m, while costs fell by 6% to €63m.

“Customers can be reassured by the fact that National Irish Bank is part of Danske Bank, a strong, well capitalised European banking group that remains ambitious for its Irish business and has a long term commitment to the Irish market. We will continue to service and support our customers,” NIB Chief Executive Andrew Healy said.

The bank said NIB’s business and personal customers will continue to be fully covered under the Danish Government’s Bank Guarantee Scheme. It will continue to use its competitive advantages in technology, coupled with Danske Bank’s European banking expertise, to benefit Irish customers.

Healy described the restructuring move as a prudent one in the economic downturn. He said the bank was one of the first to recognise the true scale of losses facing banks operating in Ireland and this latest proactive decision signals its resolve to continue fulfilling the banking needs of its extensive Irish customer base, he said.

“The banking sector in Ireland is on life support. Banks have to react by reducing costs and amending their business models. We are taking these actions to ensure we have a long-term future, a healthy future,” he added.

The restructuring programme will begin in 2010 and will be completed during 2011 on a phased basis. The bank said it is is working with the IBOA and other staff representative bodies regarding the changes and details of the scheme.

The bank has a staff of about 630.