The Irish Bank Officials' Association (IBOA) has called on the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, to intervene in its dispute with Bank of Ireland over the outsourcing of information technology services.

Mr Larry Broderick, IBOA general secretary, yesterday accused the bank of engaging in "short-term opportunism" by proposing the cost-cutting move.

He said the Minister should question the bank's proposals for its IT division, adding: "Given the tough current environment for our IT sector, it is essential that Bank of Ireland is curtailed from initiating such reckless proposals."

A spokesperson for Bank of Ireland was unavailable for comment last night.

It is understood its decision to outsource IT operations stems from the abandonment last year of a proposed joint-venture project between Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks which would see the two companies merge their IT infrastructural services.

The IBOA said it learnt last November that the bank planned to outsource IT functions, currently operated by a wholly-owned subsidiary, ITSIS (IT Systems and Infrastructure Services).

Since then, the association has voted to reject the proposal.

ITSIS is based predominantly in Cabinteely, Co Dublin, with smaller elements elsewhere in the capital. It employs about 300 IT specialists. Mr Broderick said it was "totally unacceptable that an organisation like Bank of Ireland, earning massive profits in excess of €1 billion per annum, with most of that figure earned in this country, should treat its IT staffs' future with such disregard. The bank must listen to their staff and aim to develop its business with consideration for the staffs' future as a central tenet of this development."