Royal Bank of Scotland to cut 750 Irish jobs

Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) Irish unit, Ulster Bank, said on Monday it was merging with its sister lender First Active resulting in the loss of up to 750 jobs.

Ulster Bank said the move to amalgamate 60 branches of mortgage provider First Active would mean the reduction of up to 550 staff in the Irish Republic and up to 200 across the Irish border in the UK province of Northern Ireland.

A voluntary severance package would be available, it said in a statement.

The merger, to be completed towards the end of the year, would result in an organisation with more than 1.8 million customers, 295 branches and an ATM network of more than 1,250 across the island of Ireland, it said.

Ulster Bank acquired First Active in 2004 and between them the two subsidiaries employ 7,000 people.

RBS, which this month posted Britain's biggest corporate loss, has embarked on a major restructuring of its operations worldwide.

At 0957 GMT, RBS shares were trading up 13.22 percent at 13.70 pence.

Ireland's banking sector has come under intense pressure as recession squeezes the one-time "Celtic Tiger" economy and the housing market plummets. The job losses add to a lengthening list of redundancy announcements in Ireland recently by companies including PC-maker Dell, British drinks firm Britvic, and Irish-owned supermarket chain Superquinn.