Staff working at the ESB's 54 retail outlets have been offered redundancy and the chance to work with Bank of Scotland (Ireland) as part of yesterday's deal between the two companies.
The retail outlets which Bank of Scotland (Ireland) is acquiring contain staff directly employed by the ESB Group and others employed by various subsidiaries.
More than 150 members of staff are direct employees, with the remainder employed by the subsidiaries.
Those employed by the ESB group are expected to receive nine weeks' pay per year of service, while the others are expected to be offered about five weeks' pay for every year of service.
The 400 staff working in the shops effectively now have three options.
They can be redeployed within the ESB group, but not receive any redundancy; they can take redundancy and accept a job with Bank of Scotland (Ireland) or they can simply accept the redundancy and leave the ESB.
Mark Duffy, chief executive of Bank of Scotland (Ireland), yesterday said the bank was committed to offering every one of the 400 ESB retail staff a job. However, he acknowledged, not all would be prepared to transfer.
The ESB officers association represents the staff and is seeking an urgent meeting with the company about various issues.
Its spokesman, Tony Dunne, said the union remained opposed to selling off pieces of the ESB. "You have to remember certain functions are being outsourced here. That is what's happening," he said.
However, he said, reaction so far had been mixed, often depending on the personal situation of the staff member.
The group directly employed by ESB are mainly cashiers and have longer service than the other employees.
They stand gain significantly from the package.
Yesterday, the chief executive of ESB, Pádraig McManus, said the deal was a good one for staff. "This is a highly positive outcome for the ESB and for staff working in the shops, giving them new careers in an expanding banking business." he said.
Speaking to The Irish Times he said there was little point in ESB remaining active in the retail sector.
He said originally the company needed the shops to promote the use of electricity and the way to do this was to sell electrical goods. But he said the market had now changed.
He said that although the shops had been just about breaking even in the last two years, the forecasts for 2005 and 2006 were not good.
He said ESB was delighted with the deal because large electrical retailers had not shown an interest in buying the business. "They are looking for big hyper stores in places like Blanchardstown," he said.
He said 30 per cent of the stores were leased, with the remainder freehold.
He added that the shops had a market share of 24 per cent in 1985, but this was now down to 6 per cent.
