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WORKERS AT KBC Bank Ireland are concerned about their jobs ahead of an announcement about the future of the firm’s operations in Ireland.
The results of a strategic review of KBC Group’s Irish activities will be announced this coming Thursday as it reveals its quarter 4 and full financial results for last year.
The outcome of the review is set to decide the future of the Belgian bank’s Irish operations.
KBC Ireland faces tough challenges from its much bigger rivals – Bank of Ireland and AIB – as well as trouble because of Ireland’s constricted property market, among other things.
Depending on the results of the review, the KBC Group has indicated that there are three possible outcomes:
It’s the third option that has the more than 1,000 employees of the bank in Ireland worried.
General secretary for the Financial Services Union Larry Broderick wrote to the chair of the KBC Group on 27 January laying out an argument for why the bank should keep its Irish operations.
He also wrote about the anxiety being felt by members of the FSU who work at KBC Ireland:
As you can imagine the speculation of recent weeks regarding the future of KBC Ireland has weighed heavily on Financial Services Union members in KBC Ireland, as they consider the impact various outcomes will have on their careers and on their families.
The FSU has no negotiating rights with regards to KBC staff members.
A spokesperson told TheJournal.ie that there was “very real concern” among staff ahead of Thursday’s announcement.
“Over recent weeks we’ve responded to queries from both union members and staff who aren’t members of the union,” the spokesperson said.
“They are concerned about job security, terms and conditions in the event of a merger and their rights in a redundancy situation.
They are really the core concerns that any worker has when faced with an uncertain future.
A spokesperson for the bank told TheJournal.ie that the bank’s top priority had been to become profitable by 2016 onwards.
“The group has always stated that the first priority for Ireland is to become profitable from 2016 onwards (already achieved in 2015),” the spokesperson said.
As of then, all available options will be considered.
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Some stunning numbers right there, well done to Martin Shanahan and everyone at the IDA. What other countries would give to have those results. Great platform for 2016, FDI still coming.
Hold on a minute. It was Richard Bruton and the government not the IDA and there 60 + years of experience. ☺
They’re going to try and take credit anyway.
Other countries wouldn’t be offering the double Irish, or spending a budget of 1 billion a year in creating 18.5k jobs linked mostly to a virtual trade. Again this could all change very quickly. As for the tax issue, all of us are subsidizing substantial tax evasion from companies making plenty. Some of this tax would be welcome in paying for hospitals, flood defenses and education supports like the rest of Irish businesses.
Around four-fifths of corporation tax is paid by foreign-owned MNCs. This year the total corporation tax paid by MNCs will be around €5 billion – 20% more than is collected through the USC.
On top of this US companies in Ireland pay €6 billion in staff costs, buy €4 billion of goods and services from Irish suppliers and spend about €3 billion on their capital infrastructure. Every year.
Martin, Any evidence of tax evasion should be reported to Revenue.
Martin the ‘double Irish’ loophole was closed by the Minister for Finance two years ago.
@Stephen
Technical the double Irish is been replaced, also Ireland still allows MNC companies to write off dividend payments & other inter group transfers against Irish Tax. It’s not for nothing Ireland is often referred to as a tax haven, despite Irish government asserting that their country is not one.
Recently, Ireland made headlines in USA with the latest in a series of “inversion’s” when drug company Pfizer merged with Ireland-based Allergan, with plans to reheadquarter in Ireland ???? Why ????… weather, location, skills LOL… This tax inversion could help Pfizer dodge taxes on as much as $148 billion in profits held internationally, according to a report from Americans for Tax Fairness.
Another giant American-founded company that is incorporated in Ireland is Apple, which has booked over $180 billion in offshore profits through its international subsidiaries, dodging $59.2 billion in U.S. taxes, according to the Citizens for Tax Justice report. They aren’t alone; over a quarter of Fortune 500 companies had subsidiaries in Ireland in 2014, including Google
This can’t last forever more & more countries are not happy with Ireland stealing their dinner. The Irish government should be looking to develop it own homegrown Irish MNC’s we need more Kerry, CRH, Ryanair etc rather than low skill tax compliance based employment. This party is ending soon.
@ TheJeff – Inversions are an issue – but if it wasn’t Ireland – it would be somewhere else (Burger King recently moved to a Canadian domicile). The issue with inversions is more related to the US tax regulation that US companies should pay tax on their global earnings in the US (as opposed to where generated). This tax rate is one of the highest in the western world – about 39%.
Inversions, however, bring no jobs, and aren’t something the IDA have any role in. (so Ireland shouldn’t encourage them).
I’m not sure where you get the “low skill” statement from – if a company wants low skill employees – they go to Vietnam or Bangladesh. Most jobs with Apple/Facebook/Paypal etc are for graduates – and most are well paid.
Just more pre-election facts and figures.
Most jobs with Apple/Facebook/Paypal etc in Ireland are low skill admin jobs & system maintenance employing Grad in jobs where they are not learning much anything new, certainly not picking up new skills ideas. Sheep mostly.. & that before you look at the employment contracts they have mostly 18 month temporary contracts
Yet the nay sayers and idiots will still complain about these “multinationals not paying their taxes” and looking to get them out
But Steve, do you think companies shouldn’t pay tax on profits? Yes jobs are great, but your local small employer running a supermarket or similar will pay a higher percentage tax than Facebook just because they can’t split themselves and pay “fees” to their Bermuda branch to offset tax liabilities. Do you think that’s fair? Or is it cute hoor Ireland where we complain when we hear tax avoidance stories but look the other way when it suits us.
The owner of the supermarket doesn’t have to pay for the use of IP developed by a third party.
John,
you are wrong. small employers can move offshore.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crickhowell-welsh-town-moves-offshore-to-avoid-tax-on-local-business-a6728971.html
The reason they pay a smaller percentage is in fact to attract them in the first place. Isn’t it better to have them here?? Why would Facebook /Google/Apple set up shop on a small island country if there was no benefit to them.
John, you are correct that they should be paying more tax. Better to have all the jobs, skills and spin off benefits that these companies bring in than to see them go elsewhere. Take what we can for the moment and grow our knowledge base. If global tax rates become less of an issue in the future then we can increase the tax. It’s frustrating for other businesses I’m sure but in overall we are still in an envious position.
According to Irish Times article, 1 in 5 private sector jobs employed directly or indirectly by foreign multinationals. Remember, that’s a huge tax take that the Irish Treasury get on their incomes.
@Steven. No point trying to get them out. They’ll get out themselves when a better fix presents itself.
Liked and shared. Amen.
Well done to all involved.
Wonder what the LLA’s policy on increasing employment tax will do to these numbers.
Great news, well done!
Brilliant news this fdi brings fwf to Ireland. Fwf being foreign work force, when these companies leave for eastern Europe or india the country is left with the additional numbers unemployed and due to the meagre taxes paid by these companies irish companies and workers will foot the bill. Like everything in this country it is done for short term gain or more correctly to get relected .
Not in the North East anyway…
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