
Bank of Ireland to reduce workforce before end of the year, says CEO
Staff numbers at Bank of Ireland will be reduced in the second half of the year, including 260 voluntary redundancies, with further cuts likely next year.
Myles O'Grady, the bank's group chief executive, has said some of the reduction in headcount is due to the use of artificial intelligence in areas such as financial services, as the bank begins 'to deploy AI in a more meaningful way across the board'.

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Irish Independent
17 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Nine out of 10 small businesses ‘have embraced AI in some form', says survey
The study of 357 small firms, conducted by Amárach Research, says the most common applications of AI are automating simple tasks (66pc) and data analytics (44pc). Adoption is high in professional services and finance, where firms report a growth in enthusiasm for AI's potential to improve accuracy, speed up processes and, most importantly, cut costs. However, the report reveals that the adoption of AI remains largely surface level, with the majority of small businesses using AI for basic functions such as content generation and reporting rather than innovation, product development or key decision making. The main barriers to a deeper sense of AI integration, according to the respondents in the report, are a lack of expertise, time constraints, and the absence of a concise business strategy. SFA director David Broderick said: 'AI is the defining technology of our time, and it will fundamentally shift how business is done. 'While the survey shows small businesses are interested and curious about it, AI adoption remains shallow among small firms as it is mostly confined to content generation and simple data analysis, rather than innovation, product development or decision-making. 'Therefore, many businesses have not yet explored its full potential.' The SFA is calling on the Government to unlock the National Trading Fund (NTF) to support upskilling in digital and AI capability. Mr Broderick also urged enhancements to the Grow Digital Voucher scheme and R&D tax credit access to encourage more firms to venture into the more advanced AI functions. Three-quarters of the respondents reported having either implemented or having a plan to implement AI further, apart from the retail sector which produced the highest number of firms that show no interest in any additional use of AI. As AI continues to change the global economical landscape, the SFA warns that Ireland's small business sector must not be left behind, and must work in conjunction with the Government and training bodies.


Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Irish Examiner
Small Irish firms 'have not yet explored full potential of AI', survey finds
Just 40% of small Irish firms have implemented AI in some form across their business, but its use remains 'shallow' and is mostly confined to content generation and simple data analysis, a new survey has found. According to research conducted by Amárach on behalf of the Small Firms Association, 8% of firms have already incorporated AI into most of their business areas, while 13% said they had started incorporating it into some of their business. A further 19% said they had started to experiment with AI in some business areas. Another 22% said while they had started looking into how AI might be used in their business, they had yet to start using it. Small Firms Association director David Broderick said while the survey showed that although small businesses were interested and curious about AI, "adoption remains shallow among small firms as it is mostly confined to content generation and simple data analysis, rather than innovation, product development, or decision-making'. 'Therefore, many businesses have not yet explored its full potential,' he said. Mr Broderick added small businesses needed to 'adopt AI strategically to keep up with large businesses to survive'. In total, 357 companies were surveyed as part of this research. Of the firms who use AI, 66% said it was utilised in their sales and marketing, including content creation, while 44% said it was being used in their data analytics. It also found 35% of firms had implemented the technology in chatbots and customer support. Read More John Whelan: Every penny of available Apple cash needed to back Irish AI development


Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
European shares recover although Swiss stocks take a hit on US tariff news
European shares recovered on Monday as investors adopted a wait-and-see approach to the impact of US tariffs on global trade, although Swiss shares took a hit as the market reacted to the US's plan to impose 39 per cent tariff. DUBLIN Bank of Ireland shares lured buyers on what dealers said was a quiet day overall, with a public holiday in the Republic. The bank benefited from Friday's British supreme court ruling reversing a court of appeal finding on car loans that left lenders facing billions of pounds in compensation claims. Bank of Ireland's British business was one of those exposed. READ MORE On Monday its shares rose 2.35 per cent to €11.775. In the same sector, Permanent TSB climbed 1.92 per cent to €2.12. Among the market's bigger stocks, Ryanair climbed 2.89 per cent to close at €25.97, edging closer to the €26-mark, which dealers dubbed 'massive' for the airline. Investors have been moving into the company, Europe's biggest airline, since it emerged that London Stock Exchange Group subsidiary, FTSE Russell, proposed including the carrier in its Global Equity Index Series. The stock joined the MSCI index in June. Elsewhere, drug and medical device distributor Uniphar gained 3.9 per cent to €3.995. Dealers noted that there was little behind the move as the numbers of shares traded were low. Housebuilder Cairn Homes added 1.4 per cent to €2.175. Overall, traders said there was little on the negative front on Monday. LONDON Close Brothers Group plc (CBG) surged 23.53 per cent to 491.4 pence sterling on Monday making it the biggest beneficiary of Friday' British supreme court ruling on car loans. The firm has a large motor finance business that would have been in the firing line had judges not overturned a previous court-of-appeal finding. Lloyds Banking Group found favour with investors on the same grounds, climbing 9 per cent to 82.56p. NatWest advanced 3.17 per cent to 527.9p while financial adviser St James Place rose 4.68 per cent to 1,353.5p. Aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce continued its good recent run, getting a 2.35 per cent lift-off to 1,090p. Pest control specialist Rentokil slid more than 2 per cent to 354.3p after the company reported a sharp fall in earnings per share over the first half of the year. Chronic illness treatment specialist Convatec dipped 0.87 per cent to 229p. EUROPE Europe's benchmark Stoxx 600 closed ahead on Monday following Friday's sharp fall sparked by the introduction of US tariffs. However, Switzerland's SMI fell as much as 1.9 per cent in early trade as investors returned following a public holiday on Friday, the day on which Washington imposed a tariff of 39 per cent on Swiss goods. The index cut losses back to around 0.2 per cent later in the day. Luxury watchmaker Richemont was 1.27 per cent off at 131.7 Swiss francs. UBS, one of the country's best-known banks, fell 0.7 per cent to 30.22 Swiss francs after confirming that it would pay $300 million to resolve US mortgage securities cases. US US shares bounced back on Monday following Friday's sell-off as investors bet on deeper Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in the wake of unexpectedly weak jobs figures. By 5.40pm Irish time, the Dow Jones Indsutrial average had risen 463.55 points or 1.06 per cent, the S&P 500 was up 74.56 points or 1.2 per cent and the Nasdaq composite had climbed 325.95 points or 1.58 per cent. Tesla rose 1.2 per cent after granting chief executive Elon Musk 96 million shares worth about $29 billion. Spotify jumped 6.8 per cent as the music streaming platform announced plans to increase the monthly price of its premium individual subscription in select markets from September.